Branch retinal vein occlusion. Axial length and other risk factors.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the association between axial length, as a measurement of hyperopia, and branch retinal vein occlusion and to determine the clinical characteristics and other risk factors of patients with branch retinal vein occlusion.


METHODS
A case-control study was performed using 36 patients with branch retinal vein occlusion and 36 age- and sex-matched control patients selected from a list of subjects who had undergone cataract extraction.


RESULTS
There was essentially no difference in axial length between patients the disorder and control patients (23.55 mm versus 23.62 mm; P = 0.79). Although the intraocular pressure (IOP) among control eyes was somewhat higher than that in branch retinal vein occlusion eyes, the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.32). Systemic hypertension was more common in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (53%) than in control patients (42%) but the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.35). Chronic open-angle glaucoma was present in 14% of patients with branch retinal vein occlusion and 22% of control patients (P = 0.37), but this difference was not statistically significant. Diabetes mellitus was two times more common in controls (28%) than in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (14%). This difference, however, also did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.13).


CONCLUSIONS
Hyperopia as measured by axial length is not a risk factor for branch retinal vein occlusion. This study provides evidence that hypertension is a risk factor for branch retinal vein occlusion and that chronic open-angle glaucoma and diabetes mellitus are not risk factors for branch retinal vein occlusion.
Simons
B D
BD
Scheie Eye Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, USA.
Brucker
A J
AJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000886:Anthropometry; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005123:Eye / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006956:Hyperopia / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012029:Refraction, Ocular; D012170:Retinal Vein Occlusion / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors