The study authors examined 43 United States centers who treated patients 50 years old or older for untreated active choroidal neovascularization.
Here are five points on the findings:
1. Among 1,165 participants with gradable fundus photographs, 52.2 percent used one or more antiplatelet or anticoagulant drugs at baseline, including 44.1 percent with antiplatelet drugs only, 6.6 percent with anticoagulant drugs only and 1.5 percent with both types of medication.
2. The most frequently-used of these drugs were aspiring at 69.4 percent, warfarin at 14.7 percent and clopidregel at 11.4 percent.
3. At baseline, 62.1 percent of the participants with gradable photographs had retinal or subretinal hemorrhage. Of these, 84.4 percent were one disc area or less, 8.1 percent were one to two disc areas and 7.5 percent were more than two disc areas.
4. The participants with hemorrhages at baseline were older on average and had slightly lower mean diastolic blood pressure, but they had a similar history of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
5. Of the 608 participants taking antiplatelet or anticoagulant drugs, 64.5 percent had retinal or subretinal hemorrhage. In comparison, 59.6 percent of 507 participants who did not take antiplatelet or anticoagulant drugs had such hemorrhages.
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