Evaluation of the Association Between Retinal Vein Occlusion and the Risk of Atrial Fibrillation Development: A 12-Year, Retrospective Nationwide Cohort Study

We aimed to evaluate the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) development following retinal vein occlusion (RVO). We performed a nationwide propensity score-matched cohort study by retrospectively reviewing a database from the Korean National Health Insurance Service, comprising approximately 1 million random subjects. RVO and AF were diagnosed based on the Korean Classification of Disease codes. The RVO group was composed of patients with an initial diagnosis of RVO made between 2003 and 2007 (n = 1,801), excluding those who were diagnosed in 2002. The comparison group was composed of randomly selected patients (5 for each patient with RVO, n = 8,930) who were matched to the RVO group according to sociodemographic factors and the year of enrollment. Each sampled patient was tracked until 2013. The predictive value of RVO for AF was analyzed using Cox regression analysis with a hazard ratio (HR) and confidence interval (CI). AF developed in 6.5% of patients in the RVO group and 4.0% of those in the comparison group (p < 0.001). RVO was associated with a greater risk of AF development after adjusting for possible confounders (HR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.09–1.67). An association between RVO and subsequent AF development was found after adjusting for possible confounding factors.