Analysis of Systemic and Serum Risk Factors in Patients with Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy

Abstract

Abstract Introduction It remains controversial whether polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) represents a subtype of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) or is a distinct disease entity. This study aimed to compare and analyze systemic and serum risk factors for nAMD and PCV in an aging Chinese population. Methods A retrospective study was performed on 108 patients with nAMD, 131 patients with PCV, and 219 control subjects. Serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), apolipoprotein A1 (APOA1), apolipoprotein B (APOB), complement 3 (C3), and complement 4 (C4) together with data on systemic risk factors, including hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), coronary artery disease (CAD), and asthma, were collected. Chi-square tests, independent-samples t tests, and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the associations of risk factors with nAMD and PCV. Results Patients with PCV and those with nAMD were likely to have hyperlipidemia (P 0.05), DM was associated with PCV development (OR = 0.535, P = 0.044). Regarding serum risk factors, HDL, LDL, TG, APOB, and C3 were significantly associated with nAMD (OR 0.05). Conclusion Our findings indicate that hyperlipidemia is significantly associated with both nAMD and PCV. Serum lipid and complement levels have an effect on the pathogenesis of nAMD and PCV, and consideration of the differences between systemic and serum risk factors should be taken into account in clinical management.

Keywords

• Age-related macular degeneration
• Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy
• Risk factors