Patients with retinal vascular occlusion have increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to a Taiwanese study.

The nationwide cohort study1 matched almost 40,000 individuals with diagnoses of retinal vascular occlusion with a similar number of age- and sex-matched individuals without the disorder.

The study found patients with retinal vascular occlusion had a higher risk of developing all-cause dementia (HR 1.58), AD (HR 1.57), and vascular dementia (VD) (HR 1.76) compared to controls.

The elevated risk was associated with retinal artery occlusion, central retinal artery occlusion, retinal vein occlusion, central retinal vein occlusion, and branch retinal vein occlusion. Associations for branch retinal artery occlusion showed similar trends but did not reach statistical significance.

The study authors concluded that monitoring for dementia symptoms in patients with retinal vascular occlusion may facilitate earlier detection and intervention.

Reference
1. Tsai HR, Lin YJ, Loh CH, Lee YC, Huang HK. Risk of Alzheimer disease and related dementia after retinal vascular occlusion: A nationwide cohort analysis. Ophthalmol Retina. 2026 Feb;10(2):117-127. doi: 10.1016/j.oret.2025.10.017. [strap]