Background: Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is the second most common retinal vascular disease after diabetic retinopaty. For this type of thrombosis the correlation with thrombophilic conditions, cardiovascular risk factors and the risk of the future development of cancer is still debated.

Aims: To evaluate the association between RVO and inherited thrombophilia or the common cardiovascular risk factors. To investigate the relationship between RVO and the risk of future development of cancer.

Methods: In this prospective study we enrolled a total of 145 subjects at their first event of RVO. Sixty-six healthy subjects who did not present with a history of thromboembolic events acted as the controls. A total of 1376 and 384 patient observation-years were considered in cases and controls, respectively.

Results: Sixteen subjects in the group of cases and six in the controls were identified as carriers of thrombophilia with a prevalence of 12.4% (95 % CI 7 to 18) and 10% (96% CI 3.7 to 20.5) respectively[ RR 1.2 (95%CI 0.5 to 3)].
One hundred and seven subjects in the group of cases and 38 in the controls presented with cardiovascular risk factor with a prevalence of 73% (95 % CI 66 to 81) and 58% (96% CI 44 to 70) respectively [RR 1.2 (95%CI 0.9 to 1.5)].
During the observation nineteen tumors developed in the group of cases (13%) as compared to four in the controls (6%). Overall, annual incidences of cancer were 1.4% (95% CI, 0.8 to 2.2) in cases and 1.05% ( 95% CI 0.3 to 2.7) in controls, respectively (RR, 1.3 [95% CI 0.5 to 4]).

Conclusions: Inherited thrombophilia is not associated with RVO while cardiovascular risk factor are weakly associated. RVO does not seem to be a marker for occult cancer.

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ISTH Congress Abstracts - https://abstracts.isth.org/abstract/retinal-vein-thrombosis-and-the-association-with-inherited-thrombophilia-cardiovascular-risk-factors-and-the-risk-of-occult-cancer-a-prospective-study/