Aspirin therapy does not delay diabetic vitreous hemorrhage, but statins may

Neither aspirin nor ACE inhibitors affected the onset or recurrence of vitreous hemorrhage in patients with diabetes, a retrospective analysis found. However, statin use showed a significant protective effect, both reducing and delaying the recurrence of hemorrhage, the study authors said.

S. Banerjee and colleagues at Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre in England reviewed the charts of 20 patients with type 1 diabetes and 34 patients with type 2 diabetes to determine the role of cardiovascular disease and therapy in both onset and recurrence of preretinal and vitreous hemorrhage in these diseases.

The mean age of the patients was 57.1 years; 37 of the 54 were male. For patients with type 1 diabetes, the mean duration of diagnosed diabetes at first vitreous hemorrhage was 21.9 years, and for patients with type 2 diabetes it was 14.8 years.

Aspirin administration was not associated with a significantly later onset of vitreous hemorrhage, the study authors noted. For patients on HMGCoA reductase inhibitor therapy, vitreous hemorrhage occurred a mean of 21.4 years after treatment initiation vs. 16.2 years in the nontreatment group.

During follow-up, 110 episodes of recurrent vitreous hemorrhage were seen in 79 eyes of 54 patients. Age, gender, diabetes type or control, presence of hypertension or hypercholesterolemia and macrovascular complications were not associated with a significant effect on the 1-year recurrence rate. Neither aspirin nor ACE-inhibitors had an effect on the 1-year recurrence rate. Statin use was significantly associated with a reduction in recurrence, the authors said.

The study is published in the August issue of Eye.