A Thrombophilic Risk Factor For Retinal Vein Occlusion

Purpose: Factor XII deficiency is among the coagulation disorders thathave been implicated in major thromboembolic events. However, little is known about association of this coagulation disorder and retinal vessel occlusion. In the current study, we investigated the prevalence of factor XII deficiency in patients with retinal vein occlusion with age and cardiovascular risk factors.Methods: Cross-sectional study. A cohort of 23 consecutive patientswith retinal vein occlusion and 20 subjects matched for age and gender were prospectively screened for factor XII deficiency. Both cohorts were divided into two subgroups (≤50 or > 50 years), depending on the patients' age at the time of RVO.Result: Factor XII deficiency was found to be present in 10 (43.48%)of 23 patients and in 4 (20%) of 20 controls (P=0. 119). The prevalence among patients ≤50 years was similar to that found in age-related controls (P=0. 302). The prevalence among patients >50 years was similar to that found in age-related controls (P=0. 405). The prevalence factor XII deficiency in BRVO patients and CRVO patients appears to be similar to that seen in controls(P=0. 217 in BRVO and P=0. 115 in CRVO). Moreover, we observed no statistically significant different prevalence of factor XII deficiency between patients with cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cigarette abuse, or hyperlipidemia and patients without these risk factors(P=0. 197).Conclusions: Our results indicated that the prevalence factor XIIdeficiency in RVO patients appears to be similar to that seen in healthy individuals.