Comorbidity of age-related macular degeneration with Alzheimer's disease: A histopathologic case-control study

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 14; no. 9; p. e0223199
• Main Authors: Smilnak, Gordon J, Deans, John R, Doraiswamy, P Murali, Stinnett, Sandra, Whitson, Heather E, Lad, Eleonora M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 30.09.2019; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Advertising executives; Age; Age related diseases; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - epidemiology; Alzheimer Disease - pathology; Alzheimer's disease; Analysis; Apolipoproteins; Autopsies; Autopsy; Biology and Life Sciences; Biomarkers; Brain research; Care and treatment; Case-Control Studies; Comorbidity; Diagnosis; Diagnostic systems; Disease control; Eye diseases; Female; Glaucoma; Histochemistry; Histocytochemistry; Histopathology; Humans; Information processing; Macular degeneration; Macular Degeneration - epidemiology; Macular Degeneration - pathology; Male; Medical diagnosis; Medicine and Health Sciences; Neurology; Neuropathology; North Carolina - epidemiology; Patients; Retrospective Studies; Risk factors; Severity of Illness Index; Studies; Systematic review; North Carolina; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0223199

Previous studies evaluating the association between clinically diagnosed Alzheimer's disease (AD) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) have generated conflicting results. This study is the first to assess whether AMD prevalence is higher in AD patients than non-AD controls by using histopathology to definitively diagnose AD. This was a retrospective case-control study utilizing diagnostic information extracted from autopsy reports of patients age 75 and above, including 115 with a neuropathological diagnosis of AD and 57 age-matched normal controls. The rate of AMD was not significantly higher in AD cases (53.0%) than in controls (59.6%) (z = 0.820, p = 0.794). AMD severity as determined by Sarks score was similar between AD patients and controls (χ2 = 2.96, p = 0.706). There was also no significant association between Braak stage of AD severity and AMD (χ2 = 4.55, p = 0.602). No significant effect of AD diagnosis or pathologic severity on AMD comorbidity was found, suggesting that any shared mechanisms between AMD and AD may be nondeterministic.