Statins could help avoid repeat surgeries

A population-based cohort study conducted at Helsinki University Hospital examined renewed surgeries among 5,709 eye patients between 2008–2014 who had undergone vitreoretinal surgery. The results indicated that the use of statin medication at the time of surgery was associated with a 28% reduction in the risk of renewed surgery among those who underwent a primary vitrectomy to treat retinal detachment.However, it was not found to be associated with a reduced risk of renewed surgery in the other vitreoretinal disease groups involving retinal surgery, such as age-related macular pucker formation, or vitrectomies performed to treat diabetic retinopathy.{{quote-A:R-W:450-I:2-Q: There is no safe drug treatment that could prevent the formation of scar tissue inside the eye, so we should study the potential benefits of statins. -WHO:Sirpa Loukovaara, Helsinki University}}“It ses that statin treatment is beneficial in the treatment of retinal detachment, the most serious common retinal disorder which may at worst lead to blindness,” study lead Adjunct Professor Sirpa Loukovaara said.“This means that systic statin medication may be beneficial not only in the prevention of cardio-vascular diseases, but also in terms of eye health.”The researchers believe that the benefits of statin medication on retinal detachment patients is probably due to its ability to reduce inflammation inside the eye and hinder the formation of scar tissue.“The amount of biochical markers related to the scar tissue formation is lower in the vitreous gel of subjects receiving statin medication than it is in the vitreous gel of control subjects without statin, and therefore, we considered it necessary to investigate further our findings,” Loukovaara added.“At the moment there is no safe drug treatment that could prevent the formation of scar tissue inside the eye, so we should study the potential benefits of statins in this area. It’s possible that in the future, retinal detachment patients thought to benefit from the treatment would receive statin medication as an implant or as an injection inside the eye.”