Researchers recently found a high prevalence of severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) among patients newly diagnosed with retinal vein occlusion (RVO), suggesting that these patients should be strongly considered for polysomnography.

This prospective, cross-sectional study evaluated 27 adult patients (37% female) who were a mean age of 69.6 years old with a new diagnosis of RVO confirmed with intravenous fluorescein angiography. Participants completed two office-administered questionnaires screening for OSA at presentation. Findings were then validated against polysomnography.

Based on polysomnography, the team discovered 96% of patients with RVO were diagnosed with OSA, 41% of whom had severe OSA. They noted that the Berlin questionnaire had a sensitivity of 43% and a specificity of 67%, while the STOP-BANG questionnaire had a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 50%.

“The use of in-office questionnaires may aid in triaging urgency of referrals,” the study authors concluded in their paper.