Female hormone therapy not associated with increased rate of retinal vascular occlusions
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A group of women exposed to female hormone therapy did not experience an increased rate of retinal vein occlusion or retinal artery occlusion compared with those with no exposure to female hormone therapy.
“Despite many forms of oral contraceptives and female hormone replacement therapy being recognized as a risk factor for thromboembolic events, cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular disease, these hormones do not appear to impact the incidence of retinal vascular occlusions,” Jennifer Nadelmann, MD, said at the virtual Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting.
Nadelmann and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study that evaluated women in a national insurance plan who filled a prescription for female hormone therapy (FHT) between 2002 and 2016. These women were matched up to 5:1 with unexposed control subjects.
The study included 190,099 FHT-exposed subjects matched with 730,449 unexposed control subjects. The FHT-exposed cohort included 43 cases of retinal artery occlusion (0.01%), 66 cases of retinal vein occlusion (0.02%) and 98 cases of a combined outcome. The unexposed cohort included 414 cases of retinal artery occlusion (0.06%), 640 cases of retinal vein occlusion (0.09%) and 948 combined cases, Nadelmann said.
After controlling for inverse probability treatment weighting, Cox regression analysis showed no difference between the two cohorts in the hazard of developing retinal artery occlusion, retinal vein occlusion or a combined outcome.
After stratification by age, diabetes and hypertension, no significant associations were found between the FHT-exposed group and the unexposed cohort for all three outcomes.
“The reason this study is significant is it’s a large-scale epidemiologic study that reflects the currently used formulations of female hormone therapy,” Nadelmann said.
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Nadelmann J, et al. Female hormonal therapy (FHT) is not associated with retinal vascular occlusions. Presented at: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology annual meeting; June 12, 2020 (virtual meeting).
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