THURSDAY, Feb. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Retinal vein occlusion may affect 16.4 million adults worldwide, according to an article in the February issue of Ophthalmology.
Sophie Rogers, of the University of Melbourne in Australia, and colleagues pooled data from 15 population studies in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia involving 68,751 subjects aged 30 to 101 years.
Based on their analyses of 11 studies involving 49,869 subjects which assessed at least two fundus fields of both eyes, the researchers estimated that the age- and sex-standardized prevalence of any retinal vein occlusion is 5.2 per 1,000, 4.42 per 1,000 for branch retinal vein occlusion, and 0.80 per 1,000 for central retinal vein occlusion. They calculated that retinal vein occlusion affects 16.4 million adults worldwide, including 13.9 million with branch retinal vein occlusion and 2.5 million with central retinal vein occlusion. They also found the highest prevalence of branch retinal vein occlusion was among Asians and Hispanics, and the lowest prevalence was among Caucasians.
"Possible racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence of branch retinal vein occlusion may reflect differences in the prevalence of retinal vein occlusion risk factors," the authors conclude. "Understanding the key roles of the principal systemic and ocular factors, particularly hypertension for both retinal vein occlusion subtypes and glaucoma for central retinal vein occlusion, across these different populations will be important. Finally, our data suggest the need for further research to better understand the epidemiology of retinal vein occlusion, which could translate into the design of appropriate preventive and treatment strategies."
This study was supported by Allergan Inc.; two authors reported financial relationships with the company.
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