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Prevalence of asteroid hyalosis and systemic risk factors in United States adults

Eye volume 37, pages 1678–1682 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objective

Asteroid hyalosis (AH) is an uncommon clinical entity of unknown aetiology that is associated with older age. Previous epidemiologic studies have reported various systemic and demographic risk factors for AH but remain limited due to regional constraints of their study populations. Additionally, Hispanic and Non-Hispanic black populations remain under sampled. The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence of asteroid hyalosis in the United States and identify associated factors at a national level.

Subjects/Methods

This is a population-based, cross-sectional study of 5578 subjects aged 40 and older from the 2005 to 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The primary outcome measured was asteroid hyalosis on retinal imaging in any eye. Evaluated risk factors included patient demographics, medical history, body measures, serum markers, and fundus photography findings.

Results

Prevalence of asteroid hyalosis was 0.86% overall, 0.86% in Caucasians, 0.79% in African-Americans, and 0.88% in Hispanics. Asteroid hyalosis was associated with older age (p < 0.0001, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.06–0.12; odds ratio [OR], 1.09) but not ethnicity or sex. After adjusting for age, greater bodyweight (p = 0.049; 95% CI, 0.001–0.04; OR, 1.02), and history of myocardial infarction (p = 0.022; 95% CI, 0.07–1.55; OR, 2.36) were also found to be significant risk factors.

Conclusion

Asteroid hyalosis is a rare entity in the US associated with older age, greater body weight, and prior history of MI. A potential relationship between AH and cardiovascular disease remains plausible.

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Data availability

The dataset analysed during the current study are available in the NHANES repository [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/index.htm].

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Sreekanth Mallikarjun, whose tireless support and generosity of data science expertise made this paper possible. The authors would also like to acknowledge Mary Qiu, for sharing her expertise in teaching and epidemiological research, and for providing inspiration for this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Virginia Department of Ophthalmology, 1300 Jefferson Park Ave., Charlottesville, VA, 22903, USA

    Ryan Duong & Yevgeniy Shildkrot

  2. University of Virginia School of Medicine, 200 Jeanette Lancaster Way, Charlottesville, VA, 22903, USA

    Xiaoyu Cai & Naveen Ambati

  3. Northeast Eye Center, 713 Troy Schenectady Rd, Latham, NY, 12110, USA

    Rebecca Sieburth

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Contributions

Contributors RD devised the study, collected data, contributed to the analysis, discussion, main interpretation of results and writing of the manuscript. XC collected data, contributed to the analysis, discussion, main interpretation of results and writing of the manuscript. NA collected data, contributed to the analysis, discussion, main interpretation of results, and writing of the manuscript. ES devised the study, collected data, contributed to the analysis, discussion, main interpretation of results, and writing of the manuscript. RS devised the study, collected data, contributed to the analysis, discussion, main interpretation of results, and writing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ryan Duong.

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Duong, R., Cai, X., Ambati, N. et al. Prevalence of asteroid hyalosis and systemic risk factors in United States adults. Eye 37, 1678–1682 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-022-02214-z

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