Abstract

VARIATIONS IN THE NATURAL COURSE OF ELEVATED PLASMA HOMOCYSTEINE LEVEL FOLLOWING RETINAL VEIN OCCLUSION AT PRESENTATION.

Kapil Deb Lahiri*, Arunava Kundu, Bholanath Maji, Jayanta Dutta and Himadri Datta

ABSTRACT

Purpose: No study has done yet to see the natural course of high homocysteine (HHcys) level following retinal vein occlusion (RVO). Hence our study tried to find out level of Hcys after 1 month of follow up among the RVO with HHcys at presentation. Material & Methods: A total of 37 patients with HHcys on the 2nd day of presentation in RVO, were reevaluated for fasting plasma Hcys levels on 30th day in their respective follow up in one year prospective case-control study. No intervention was done to reduce the HHcys during this period. Results: Hcys levels were increased significantly in the patients with RVO (mean total Hcys, 18.16 ± 4.73 μmol/L) as opposed to the control subjects (mean total Hcys, 11.05 ± 2.21 μmol/L; P < 0.001) on 2nd day of presentation. One month follow up Hcys estimation revealed 22 patients with HHcys (mean total Hcys, 17.16 ± 4.13 μmol/L) and 15 patients with normal Hcys level (mean total Hcys, 11.76 ± 2.93 μmol/L). Conclusions: Elevated Hcys is not only a risk factor for RVO but also a marker of acute retinal vein occlusion hence routine therapy of Hcys lowering agents should be done judiciously in retinal vein occusion patients at presentation.

Keywords: Homocysteine (Hcys), Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcys), Retinal vein occlusion (RVO).