Alopecia Areata and Diseases of the Retina: What is the link?

Retinopathy, Retinal Vascular Occlusion and Retinal Detachment Increased in Alopecia Areata

A number of prior studies have questioned whether patients with alopecia areata have eye abnormalities. For example, a 2014 study suggested that up to 7 % of patients with alopecia areata had retinal degeneration.

A new study from Taiwan set out to examine the relationship between alopecia areata and retinal diseases. By examining information found in the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan, the authors compared 9909 patients with alopecia areata to 99,090 match controls

Compared with the control patients, patients with alopecia have an approximately 3 fold greater risk of having a retinal disease ( adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 3.10 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.26-4.26). Of the various retinal diseases studied, patients with alopecia areata had significantly higher risks of developing retinal detachment (aHR 3.98; 95% CI 2.00-7.95), retinal vascular occlusion (aHR 2.45; 95% CI 1.22-4.92), and retinopathy (aHR 3.24; 95% CI 2.19-4.81) than controls.

Conclusions

The conclusion of this study was that patients with alopecia areata had a significantly higher risk of retinal diseases compared to controls. More studies are needed to confirm these findings and determine why these connections might exist.

REFERENCE
Ting H-C et al. Association between alopecia areata and retinal diseases: A nationwide population-based cohort study. J Am Acad Dermatol . 2021 Nov 1;S0190-9622(21)02735-3.