title: Selective thrombophilia screening of patients with nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To date, the question whether there is a relationship between thrombophilic disorders and the development of nonarteritic ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) remains controversial. We sought to investigate the prevalence of various coagulation defects among NAION patients <65 years of age, and to provide clinical guidelines for a selective thrombophilia screening.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort of 35 patients <65 years of age with NAION and 70 controls matched for age and sex were prospectively screened for thrombophilic risk factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, thrombophilic defects were found to be present in 18 of 35 patients (51.4%) and in 12 of 70 (17.1%) controls (P = 0.0005). The most frequent coagulation disorders were increased levels of factor VIII (P = 0.015) and lipoprotein (a) (P = 0.005). Patients without cardiovascular risk factors had a statistically significant higher frequency of coagulation disorders than patients with these risk factors (P = 0.0059). There was a strong association of coagulation disorders and a personal or family history of thromboembolism (P = 0.028). Moreover, we determined the age of <or=55 years at the time of the first thromboembolic event or NAION as a strong predictor of underlying thrombophilia (P = 0.0002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that thrombophilic disorders are associated with the development of NAION in specific subgroups of patients. Selective screening of young patients, subjects with a personal or family history of thromboembolism, and patients without cardiovascular risk factors may be helpful in identifying NAION patients with thrombophilic defects.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Augenheilkunde, Klinikum der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. kuhli@med.uni-frankfurt.de
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kuhli-Hattenbach
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Scharrer
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lüchtenberg
authors.forename: Lars-Olof
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Hattenbach
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005169:Factor VIII / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017270:Lipoprotein(a) / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018917:Optic Neuropathy, Ischemic / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D019851:Thrombophilia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D001798:Blood Proteins; D017270:Lipoprotein(a); D005169:Factor VIII