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Risk for coronary artery disease elevated in people with posttraumatic vision loss
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People with vision loss after trauma had an elevated risk of coronary artery disease compared to their siblings and to people who were blind from other causes, according to a study.
Ruth Defrin, PhD, and colleagues at Tel-Aviv University in Israel compared 82 people with posttraumatic vision loss to 49 of their siblings, 59 people blind with retinitis pigmentosa and the general Israeli population to examine differences in the prevalence of coronary artery disease.
The prevalence of coronary artery disease was two to three times higher in those with posttraumatic vision loss than in the control groups. The prevalence of risk factors for coronary artery disease, however, was similar to or lower than those in the control groups. The only variable that was significantly associated with coronary artery disease prevalence was the cause of blindness, the study authors said: that is, trauma vs. disease. The odds of having coronary artery disease after traumatic vision loss was 3.75 times higher than in retinitis pigmentosa.
The study is published in the May issue of Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.