No abstract

Purpose Retinal artery occlusion is a common vision-threatening disease. Among other risk factors, coagulopathies leading to a hypercoagulable state have been associated with retinal artery occlusion. Numerous studies have shown that two genetic variants, factor V Leiden and prothrombin 20210A, cause a procoagulant state. However, their role in the pathogenesis of retinal artery occlusion is still unclear. The purpose of the present study was therefore to investigate a possible association between factor V Leiden, prothrombin 20210A, and retinal artery occlusion. Methods In the present retrospective casecontrol study, we studied 136 patients with retinal artery occlusion and 136 age-and gender-matched control subjects. The presence of factor V Leiden and prothrombin 20210A alleles was determined by polymerase chain reaction. Results The prevalence of heterozygosity for the prothrombin G20210A variant did not significantly differ between patients and controls (three patients vs two controls, P ¼ 0.65). Distribution of factor V Leiden genotypes revealed no significant difference among the two groups (heterozygosity: eight patients vs 11 controls, P ¼ 0.47). As for other risk factors, arterial hypertension, a history of stroke and myocardial infarction were significantly more frequent in patients than in controls. Conclusion Our data suggest that factor V Leiden and prothrombin 20210A do not play a major role in patients with retinal artery occlusion.

Three years after uneventful excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy in both eyes, a 34-year-old man sustained a perforating injury in the left eye. The severe injury, followed by endophthalmitis and retinal detachment, necessitated vitrectomy, lensectomy, and an internal tamponade with silicone oil. One month after the accident and operations, disk-shaped corneal edema corresponding to the laser treatment zone appeared. The edematous region showed a circular, ring-like epithelial thickening at the borders and central corneal epithelial erosion. The anterior stroma developed a central opacity that was separated by a clear rim from the developing silicone-oil keratopathy with the typical band shape.