Retinal artery occlusion does not act as an independent marker of upcoming dementia: results from a Danish 20-year cohort study

Abstract Purpose Retinal artery occlusion (RAO) is a vision threatening disease associated with cerebral vascular dysfunction, which may reflect initial signs of cerebral pathology. Early detection of patients in risk of dementia could allow for preventative treatment. Hence, this study aimed to inv...

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Main Authors: Anna Rebien Clausen, Lonny Stokholm, Morten Blaabjerg, Katrine Hartmund Frederiksen, Frederik Nørregaard Pedersen, Jakob Grauslund
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2023-08-01
Series:International Journal of Retina and Vitreous
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40942-023-00488-3
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author Anna Rebien Clausen
Lonny Stokholm
Morten Blaabjerg
Katrine Hartmund Frederiksen
Frederik Nørregaard Pedersen
Jakob Grauslund
author_facet Anna Rebien Clausen
Lonny Stokholm
Morten Blaabjerg
Katrine Hartmund Frederiksen
Frederik Nørregaard Pedersen
Jakob Grauslund
author_sort Anna Rebien Clausen
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Purpose Retinal artery occlusion (RAO) is a vision threatening disease associated with cerebral vascular dysfunction, which may reflect initial signs of cerebral pathology. Early detection of patients in risk of dementia could allow for preventative treatment. Hence, this study aimed to investigate RAO as an independent biomarker of incident dementia. Methods This study was a nationwide, 20-year longitudinal cohort study in Denmark with inclusion from 1998 to 2020 and follow up until the end of 2022. We identified 2 205 159 individuals aged 65 or older through the Danish national health registers and monitored RAO (exposure) and dementia (outcome) status. We calculated incidence rate and performed a Cox regression analysis with hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for RAO as a marker of dementia in a crude, a semi-adjusted (age and sex), and a fully adjusted model (furthermore adjusted for marital status and systemic comorbidity.) Results We identified 8 863 individuals with RAO. Incidence rates were higher among exposed compared to unexposed individuals (12.28 and 8.18 per 1000 person-years at risk, respectively). Individuals with RAO were more likely to be male and older at inclusion, to have hypertension, dyslipidaemia, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes (p < 0.001). RAO was not associated with all-cause dementia in the crude analysis (HR 1.07 CI [1.00-1.17]) or in the fully adjusted analysis (HR 0.98 CI [0.91–1.06]. Conclusion Although individuals with RAO had a higher incidence of dementia compared to unexposed individuals, these associations were lost when confounders were taken into account.
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spelling doaj.art-b0c0969324c44d17b991a578d875442a2023-11-26T13:55:51ZengBMCInternational Journal of Retina and Vitreous2056-99202023-08-01911610.1186/s40942-023-00488-3Retinal artery occlusion does not act as an independent marker of upcoming dementia: results from a Danish 20-year cohort studyAnna Rebien Clausen0Lonny Stokholm1Morten Blaabjerg2Katrine Hartmund Frederiksen3Frederik Nørregaard Pedersen4Jakob Grauslund5Department of Ophthalmology, Odense University HospitalDepartment of Clinical Research, University of Southern DenmarkDepartment of Clinical Research, University of Southern DenmarkDepartment of Ophthalmology, Odense University HospitalDepartment of Ophthalmology, Odense University HospitalDepartment of Ophthalmology, Odense University HospitalAbstract Purpose Retinal artery occlusion (RAO) is a vision threatening disease associated with cerebral vascular dysfunction, which may reflect initial signs of cerebral pathology. Early detection of patients in risk of dementia could allow for preventative treatment. Hence, this study aimed to investigate RAO as an independent biomarker of incident dementia. Methods This study was a nationwide, 20-year longitudinal cohort study in Denmark with inclusion from 1998 to 2020 and follow up until the end of 2022. We identified 2 205 159 individuals aged 65 or older through the Danish national health registers and monitored RAO (exposure) and dementia (outcome) status. We calculated incidence rate and performed a Cox regression analysis with hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for RAO as a marker of dementia in a crude, a semi-adjusted (age and sex), and a fully adjusted model (furthermore adjusted for marital status and systemic comorbidity.) Results We identified 8 863 individuals with RAO. Incidence rates were higher among exposed compared to unexposed individuals (12.28 and 8.18 per 1000 person-years at risk, respectively). Individuals with RAO were more likely to be male and older at inclusion, to have hypertension, dyslipidaemia, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes (p < 0.001). RAO was not associated with all-cause dementia in the crude analysis (HR 1.07 CI [1.00-1.17]) or in the fully adjusted analysis (HR 0.98 CI [0.91–1.06]. Conclusion Although individuals with RAO had a higher incidence of dementia compared to unexposed individuals, these associations were lost when confounders were taken into account.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40942-023-00488-3Alzheimer’s diseaseDementiaOcular biomarkersRegister-based studyRetinal artery occlusionVascular dementia
spellingShingle Anna Rebien Clausen
Lonny Stokholm
Morten Blaabjerg
Katrine Hartmund Frederiksen
Frederik Nørregaard Pedersen
Jakob Grauslund
Retinal artery occlusion does not act as an independent marker of upcoming dementia: results from a Danish 20-year cohort study
International Journal of Retina and Vitreous
Alzheimer’s disease
Dementia
Ocular biomarkers
Register-based study
Retinal artery occlusion
Vascular dementia
title Retinal artery occlusion does not act as an independent marker of upcoming dementia: results from a Danish 20-year cohort study
title_full Retinal artery occlusion does not act as an independent marker of upcoming dementia: results from a Danish 20-year cohort study
title_fullStr Retinal artery occlusion does not act as an independent marker of upcoming dementia: results from a Danish 20-year cohort study
title_full_unstemmed Retinal artery occlusion does not act as an independent marker of upcoming dementia: results from a Danish 20-year cohort study
title_short Retinal artery occlusion does not act as an independent marker of upcoming dementia: results from a Danish 20-year cohort study
title_sort retinal artery occlusion does not act as an independent marker of upcoming dementia results from a danish 20 year cohort study
topic Alzheimer’s disease
Dementia
Ocular biomarkers
Register-based study
Retinal artery occlusion
Vascular dementia
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s40942-023-00488-3
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AT mortenblaabjerg retinalarteryocclusiondoesnotactasanindependentmarkerofupcomingdementiaresultsfromadanish20yearcohortstudy
AT katrinehartmundfrederiksen retinalarteryocclusiondoesnotactasanindependentmarkerofupcomingdementiaresultsfromadanish20yearcohortstudy
AT frederiknørregaardpedersen retinalarteryocclusiondoesnotactasanindependentmarkerofupcomingdementiaresultsfromadanish20yearcohortstudy
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