Prevalence of Risk Factors for Retinal Vein Occlusion in Patients Referred to a Private Clinic in Rasht, Iran

To determine the frequency of risk factors for retinal vein occlusion (RVO) in patients referred to a private clinic in Rasht during 1995-2001. This cross-sectional study was conducted on all patients with RVO who were referred to the clinic. Sex, age, hypertension (HTN), cardiovascular diseases (CVD), diabetes mellitus (DM), hypercoagulable states, glaucoma, smoking, hyperlipidemia (HLP), and refractive errors were evaluated. This study included 143 cases of branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) and 119 cases of central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO). In BRVO group, mean age was 60.517.5 years. Prevalene of HTN, HLP, CVD, smoking, DM, and glaucoma was 62.2%, 52.1%, 44.5%, 43.7%, 31.9%, and 8.4%, respectively. In CRVO group, mean age was 58.8%2.3 years. The prevalence of the above-mentioned risk factors in this group was 70.6%, 58.0%, 51.7%, 36.4%, 20.3%, and 2.1%, respectively. None of the patients had hypercoagulablity. Most patients had 1 diopter of refractive error (67.7% in the BRVO group and 82.3% in the CRVO group). The prevalence of HTN, HLP, CVD, smoking, DM, and glaucoma are significantly high in RVO patients. Early diagnosis and management of these risk factors may decrease the prevalence of RVO diseases.