Age-related macular degeneration poses risk of heart failure

Patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are at heightened risk of heart failure (HF), with the risk increase seen in both nonexudative and exudative AMD subgroups, a study has found.

The study used data from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database and included 13,721 newly diagnosed HF patients and 54,884 matched controls. The mean age of the overall cohort was 63.15 years, and 50.98 percent were men.

AMD was detected in 2,820 patients (20.55 percent) and 9,690 controls (17.66 percent). AMD was defined as having two or more clinical visits with AMD at least 1 year before the diagnosis of HF.

Multivariable conditional logistic regression analysis showed that the odds of HF increased by 58 percent in the presence of AMD (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.56, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.16–1.87; p<0.001).

The association was observed in both nonexudative (adjusted OR, 1.43, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.15–1.64; p<0.001) and exudative (adjusted OR, 1.62, 95 percent CI, 1.28–1.86; p<0.001) AMD subgroups.

On further analyses stratified by comorbidity status, there was a significant association between AMD and risk of HF among patients with diabetes mellitus (adjusted OR, 1.56, 95 percent CI, 1.18–1.84; p<0.001), hypertension (adjusted OR, 1.48, 95 percent CI, 1.12–1.68; p<0.001), or coronary artery disease (adjusted OR, 1.28, 95 percent CI, 1.08–1.53; p=0.002).

Additional molecular and pathophysiological studies are needed to establish the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms behind the association of AMD with HF.