Department of Retina, Eye Foundation Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria.
Department of Ophthalmology, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau, Nigeria.
Ann Afr Med. 2023 Jul-Sep;22(3):279-285. doi: 10.4103/aam.aam_44_22.
Retinal vascular occlusions are a common cause of visual impairment. Studies on retinal vascular occlusions in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have primarily been retrospective and on retinal vein occlusion (RVO) only. The aim of this study, therefore, was to determine the prevalence and pattern of retinal vascular occlusions and their systemic associations in SSA.
This was a hospital-based, cross-sectional study involving all new patients presenting at the general ophthalmic and specialty retina clinics in four hospitals in Nigeria over a 1 year period. All the patients underwent a comprehensive eye examination. The demographic and clinical data of patients with retinal vascular occlusions were entered into an excel sheet and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 22.0. Statistical significance was indicated by P < 0.05.
A total of 8614 new patients were seen, and a diagnosis of retinal vascular occlusion was made in 90 eyes of 81 patients giving a disease prevalence of 0.9%. Eighty-one eyes of 72 (88.9%) patients had RVO, while 9 eyes of 9 (11.1%) patients had retinal artery occlusion (RAO). The mean age of patients with RVO and RAO was 59.5 years and 52.4 years, respectively. Increasing age, hypertension, and diabetes were the significant associations with retinal vascular occlusion with P < 0.0001.
Retinal vascular occlusions are an increasing cause of retinal disease in SSA and tend to occur at an earlier age. They are associated with hypertension, diabetes, and increasing age. Further studies will, however, be required to establish the demographic and clinical profile of patients with RAO in the region.
视网膜血管阻塞是视力损害的常见原因。撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）的视网膜血管阻塞研究主要是回顾性的，且仅针对视网膜静脉阻塞（RVO）。因此，本研究旨在确定 SSA 中视网膜血管阻塞的患病率和模式及其与全身的关联。
这是一项基于医院的横断面研究，涉及在尼日利亚的四家医院的普通眼科和专科视网膜诊所就诊的所有新患者，为期一年。所有患者均接受了全面的眼部检查。将视网膜血管阻塞患者的人口统计学和临床数据输入电子表格，并使用社会科学统计软件包（SPSS）版本 22.0 进行分析。P<0.05 表示具有统计学意义。
共观察到 8614 名新患者，81 名患者的 90 只眼诊断为视网膜血管阻塞，疾病患病率为 0.9%。81 只眼中有 72 只（88.9%）患有 RVO，而 9 只眼中有 9 只（11.1%）患有视网膜动脉阻塞（RAO）。RVO 和 RAO 患者的平均年龄分别为 59.5 岁和 52.4 岁。年龄增长、高血压和糖尿病是与视网膜血管阻塞显著相关的因素，P<0.0001。
视网膜血管阻塞是 SSA 中视网膜疾病日益增多的原因，且发病年龄较早。它们与高血压、糖尿病和年龄增长有关。然而，需要进一步的研究来确定该地区 RAO 患者的人口统计学和临床特征。
