Central Retinal Vein Occlusion and Pseudoexfoliation Syndrome: A Brief Clinical Findings

Purpose: This study 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 occlu- sion (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, X2 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, X2 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).

Conclusion: In our study, PXF and CRVO, particularly ischemic CRVO, are strongly linked. Our findings suggest that PXF may be an independent factor for CRVO, as it is associated with CRVO in the absence of glaucoma.