ImportanceThe potential association of schizophrenia with distinct retinal changes is of clinical interest but has been challenging to investigate because of a lack of sufficiently large and detailed cohorts.ObjectiveTo investigate the association between retinal biomarkers from multimodal imaging (oculomics) and schizophrenia in a large real-world population.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis cross-sectional analysis used data from a retrospective cohort of 154 830 patients 40 years and older from the AlzEye study, which linked ophthalmic data with hospital admission data across England. Patients attended Moorfields Eye Hospital, a secondary care ophthalmic hospital with a principal central site, 4 district hubs, and 5 satellite clinics in and around London, United Kingdom, and had retinal imaging during the study period (January 2008 and April 2018). Data were analyzed from January 2022 to July 2022.Main Outcomes and MeasuresRetinovascular and optic nerve indices were computed from color fundus photography. Macular retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell–inner plexiform layer (mGC-IPL) thicknesses were extracted from optical coherence tomography. Linear mixed-effects models were used to examine the association between schizophrenia and retinal biomarkers.ResultsA total of 485 individuals (747 eyes) with schizophrenia (mean [SD] age, 64.9 years [12.2]; 258 [53.2%] female) and 100 931 individuals (165 400 eyes) without schizophrenia (mean age, 65.9 years [13.7]; 53 253 [52.8%] female) were included after images underwent quality control and potentially confounding conditions were excluded. Individuals with schizophrenia were more likely to have hypertension (407 [83.9%] vs 49 971 [48.0%]) and diabetes (364 [75.1%] vs 28 762 [27.6%]). The schizophrenia group had thinner mGC-IPL (−4.05 μm, 95% CI, −5.40 to −2.69; P = 5.4 × 10−9), which persisted when investigating only patients without diabetes (−3.99 μm; 95% CI, −6.67 to −1.30; P = .004) or just those 55 years and younger (−2.90 μm; 95% CI, −5.55 to −0.24; P = .03). On adjusted analysis, retinal fractal dimension among vascular variables was reduced in individuals with schizophrenia (−0.14 units; 95% CI, −0.22 to −0.05; P = .001), although this was not present when excluding patients with diabetes.Conclusions and RelevanceIn this study, patients with schizophrenia had measurable differences in neural and vascular integrity of the retina. Differences in retinal vasculature were mostly secondary to the higher prevalence of diabetes and hypertension in patients with schizophrenia. The role of retinal features as adjunct outcomes in patients with schizophrenia warrants further investigation.
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to describe the genetic relationship between smoking and glaucoma.
Methods
We used summary-level genetic data for smoking initiation, smoking intensity (cigarettes per day [CPD]), intraocular pressure (IOP), vertical cup-disc ratio, and open-angle glaucoma (OAG) to estimate global genetic correlations (r
g
) and perform two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) experiments that explored relations between traits. Finally, we examined associations between smoking genetic risk scores (GRS) and smoking traits with measured IOP and OAG in Rotterdam Study participants.
Results
We identified weak inverse r
g
between smoking- and glaucoma-related traits that were insignificant after Bonferroni correction. However, MR analysis revealed that genetically predicted smoking initiation was associated with lower IOP (−0.18 mm Hg per SD, 95% confidence interval [CI] = −0.30 to −0.06,
P
= 0.003). Furthermore, genetically predicted smoking intensity was associated with decreased OAG risk (odds ratio [OR] = 0.74 per SD, 95% CI = 0.61 to 0.90,
P
= 0.002). In the Rotterdam Study, the smoking initiation GRS was associated with lower IOP (−0.09 mm Hg per SD, 95% CI = −0.17 to −0.01,
P
= 0.04) and lower odds of OAG (OR = 0.84 per SD, 95% CI = 0.73 to 0.98,
P
= 0.02) in multivariable-adjusted analyses. In contrast, neither smoking history nor CPD was associated with IOP (
P
≥ 0.38) or OAG (
P
≥ 0.54). Associations between the smoking intensity GRS and glaucoma traits were null (
P
≥ 0.13).
Conclusions
MR experiments and GRS generated from Rotterdam Study participants support an inverse relationship between smoking and glaucoma.
Translational Relevance
Understanding the genetic drivers of the inverse relationship between smoking and glaucoma could yield new insights into glaucoma pathophysiology.
Background: Ocular trauma represents a significant public health burden and has considerable global epidemiological variation. The epidemiology of ocular trauma in the Northern Cape province of South Africa has not been previously described.Aim: This study aimed to quantify the burden and describe the distribution and determinants of ocular trauma in the Northern Cape province.Setting: The Northern Cape province is the largest, but least populous, of the nine South African provinces. Published data on the health of the Northern Cape population are scarce. Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital (RMSH) is the only public ophthalmic referral centre in the province.Methods: Hospital record review of all adult cases of acute ocular trauma seen at RMSH over a period of one year (August 2018 – July 2019).Results: Young men comprised the majority of the 240 included cases. Ocular injuries were most likely to occur in the home (n = 115, 47.9%) and on the weekend (n = 159, 66.3%). More than half (n = 135, 56.3%) of all trauma was non-accidental in nature and significantly associated with alcohol use. Accidental trauma (n = 105, 43.8%), predominantly as a result of occupational injuries sustained at work (n = 47, 44.8%) and in the home (n = 45, 42.9%), was deemed largely preventable. Differences in the timing, location and severity of non-accidental and accidental ocular injuries were observed.Conclusion: Ocular trauma in South Africa follows distinct epidemiological trends and is largely because of interpersonal violence, which places strain on limited state healthcare resources.
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