Stroke Incidence Higher Among Patients With Certain Type of Retinal Vascular Disease

Stroke Incidence Higher Among Patients With Certain Type of Retinal Vascular Disease
Monday, March 14, 2011
By: Archives of Ophthalmology

Archives of Ophthalmology

Patients with a disease known as retinal vein occlusion (RVO) have a significantly higher incidence of stroke when compared with persons who do not have RVO, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

"Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is a retinal vascular disease in which a retinal vein is compressed by an adjacent retinal artery, resulting in blood flow turbulence, thrombus formation, and retinal ischemia," the authors write as background information in the article. "Although RVO is a significant cause of severe visual impairment in adults, it can occur at any age." Older age, diabetes, hypertension and vascular disease are among the risk factors for RVO.