Insulin resistance and atherosclerosis in branch retinal vein occlusion.

PURPOSE To investigate insulin resistance and atherosclerotic change in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). SUBJECTS Sixty-three patients with BRVO, 859 age- and sex-matched control subjects without BRVO who received the 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), and 53 control subjects, in whom carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) was measured by high-resolution ultrasonography, were included in this study. RESULTS The area under the curve of immunoreactive insulin in plasma during the OGTT was higher in patients with BRVO than in control subjects without BRVO, both when comparing individuals with normal glucose tolerance (P=.013) and when comparing individuals with impaired glucose tolerance (P<.005). Patients with BRVO showed greater IMT than control subjects, but the differences were significant only in the group aged 50-59 years and in the group older than 70 years. CONCLUSIONS Insulin resistance may play some role in the onset or progression of BRVO.