Blood in the retina 10.5 X more likely if low vitamin D – Aug 2024

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Emerging role of vitamin D deficiency as a risk factor for retinal venous occlusions and need for public health measures for its prevention

Journal of Family Medicine & Primary Care 13(8):p 3298-3303, Aug 2024. | DOI: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1885_23
Sahu, Pramod Kumar1; Gautam, Priyanka1; Das, Gopal Krushna1; Gogoi, Priyanka2; Beri, Nitika1; Bhatia, Rahul1

Purpose:
To estimate levels of serum vitamin D in patients of retinal vein occlusion (RVO) and compare with age- and sex-matched controls.

Methods:
A prospective case-control study of 54 patients of RVO and 54 age- and sex-matched attendants of patients presenting to a tertiary care hospital in Delhi was performed. Patients on vitamin D supplementations and RVO due to infective or immunological causes or patients of glaucoma were excluded. Serum vitamin D levels of all the study participants along with relevant blood investigations with history and examination were documented. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as <20 ng/ml

Results:
The mean serum vitamin D levels seen in RVO patients and the control group were 14.19 ± 5.23 ng/ml and 19.42 ± 10.27 ng/ml, respectively (P value = 0.001) with an odds ratio of 10.558 (CI = 2.34–47.50), indicating vitamin D deficiency to be strongly correlated with RVO. Maximum patients of RVO (46.3%) were seen during the winter season. The study noted hypertension [odds ratio 20.22 (CI = 5.812–70.347)], dyslipidemia, and anemia [odds ratio 4.107 (CI = 0.62–26.90)] to be the risk factors for RVO as previously proved in the literature. Smoking, diabetes, alcohol intake, and body mass index did not emerge as risk factors for RVO.

Conclusion:
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with RVO; hence, estimation of serum vitamin D levels should be advised as a part of routine investigations while looking for the cause of RVOs. Public health measures like food fortification with vitamin D micronutrients and public awareness towards increased sunlight exposure in the community are simple, inexpensive measures that can decrease the burden of sight-threatening disease of RVO in the community.
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VitaminDWiki – Vision category contains:

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112 items in Vision category

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