title: Central retinal vein occlusion and pseudoexfoliation syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to investigate the existence of pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PXF) as a risk factor for the development of central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO).
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective, comparative study of the prevalence of pseudoexfoliation in three groups of patients: 48 patients with CRVO, 164 patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO), and 70 control patients (70 eyes). All patients were phakic and had no previous diagnosis of glaucoma. Patients were matched in terms of age and systemic hypertension. All patients had normal intraocular pressure (IOP) at presentation (defined as less than or equal to 21 mmHg).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the CRVO group, 14 out of 48 patients were diagnosed as having PXF (29.17%). In the BRVO group, 14 out of 164 patients had PXF (8.5%), and in the control group, six out of 70 patients had PXF (8.6%). Differences of percentage between groups were statistically significant (P<0.001, χ(2) test). When comparing patient subgroup with ischemic CRVO with subgroup with non-ischemic CRVO, we found that in the ischemic CRVO group, 13 out of 27 patients were diagnosed as having PXF (48.15%), and in the non-ischemic CRVO group, one out of 21 patients was diagnosed as having PXF (4.7%; P<0.001, χ(2) test). The relative odds of having CRVO in patients with PXF versus patients without PXF were 4.406 (confidence interval [CI], 2.03-9.54).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PXF and CRVO, especially ischemic, are strongly associated in our study. Our results indicate that PXF might be an independent factor for CRVO, as it is related with CRVO independently from glaucoma.
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmiatreio Eye Hospital of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Karagiannis
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmiatreio Eye Hospital of Athens, Athens, Greece ; Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Heraklion, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.
authors.forename: Georgios A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Kontadakis
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Heraklion, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.
authors.forename: Nektarios E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Klados
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmiatreio Eye Hospital of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tsoumpris
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmiatreio Eye Hospital of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Artemios S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Kandarakis
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmiatreio Eye Hospital of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Efstratios A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Parikakis
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, General Hospital of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Ilias
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Georgalas
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Heraklion, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.
authors.forename: Miltiadis K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Tsilimbaris
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017889:Exfoliation Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D007511:Ischemia; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012170:Retinal Vein Occlusion / Q000150:complications*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: branch retinal vein occlusion; glaucoma; ischemic and non-ischemic central retinal vein occlusion; pseudoexfoliation