Hypertension and multiple cardiovascular risk factors increase the risk for retinal vein occlusions: results from the Gutenberg Retinal Vein Occlusion Study

OBJECTIVE: Although several risk factors for retinal vein occlusion (RVO) are known, what triggers RVO is unclear in many cases. We aimed to evaluate the relevance of multiple risk factors in patients with RVO. METHODS: The Gutenberg RVO Study is an observational case-control study that assessed thrombophilic, cardiovascular, ophthalmic, and drug-related risk factors in participants with RVO and the same number of matched controls. Conditional logistic regression analysis was chosen to estimate the risk of RVO due to several risk factors. RESULTS: Of 92 patients with RVO, 46 (50%) had central RVO, 31 (33.7%) had branch RVO, and 15 (16.3) had hemi-RVO. Systemic hypertension was associated with RVO [any RVO: odds ratio (OR): 1.81; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14-2.88; branch RVO: OR: 2.56; 95% CI: 1.08-6.10]. The most frequent combinations of risk factors were hypertension with dyslipidemia (33 of 92, 35.9%) and hyperhomocysteinemia and high levels of factor VIII (10 of 92, 10.9%). An increase in the risk sum score by one additional risk factor corresponded to ORs of 1.74 (95% CI: 1.31-2.32) for cardiovascular risk factors, 1.38 (95% CI: 1.04-1.82) for thrombophilic risk factors, and 1.43 (95% CI: 1.20-1.70) for the total number of risk factors for RVO. CONCLUSION: Cardiovascular risk factors are more important than other risk factors for the presence of RVO. The risk of RVO increased by approximately 40% with any additional risk factor and by 70% with any additional cardiovascular risk factor.