Kuen-Tze Lin1, Shih-Yu Lee2, Shao-Cheng Liu3, Chih-Cheng Tsao1, Sheng-Der Hsu4, Wu-Chien Chien5,6, Chi-Hsiang Chung5, Wei-Kuo Chang7, Yuan-Wu Chen8,9, Chun-Shu Lin1. 1. Department of Radiation Oncology, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. 2. Graduate Institute of Aerospace and Undersea Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan. 3. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. 4. Division of Traumatic and General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. 5. Department of Medical Research, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. 6. School of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan. 7. Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. 8. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. 9. School of Dentistry, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine the risk of ocular complications following radiotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). METHODS: We adopted 1:1 propensity score matching and identified an NPC cohort (n = 736) and a comparison cohort (n = 736) that comprised non-NPC head and neck cancer patients who received radiotherapy in the National Health Insurance Research Database from 1997 to 2010. The follow-up period was terminated upon developing ocular complications (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification [ICD-9-CM]360-379) or on December 31, 2010. RESULTS: After adjusting for the confounding factors of the study, the NPC cohort had a higher adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for developing ocular complications than the comparison cohort (adjusted HR = 2.786, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.805-4.112, P < 0.001). The NPC cohort was associated with a significantly higher risk of developing ocular complications compared with the comparison cohort within 12 and after 24 months of follow-up (P < 0.05). The most common associated ocular complications were optic nerve disorder and retinopathy. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with NPC might be at higher risk of developing ocular complications after radiotherapy than non-NPC head and neck cancer patients in Taiwan. Either further investigation or routine assessments by ophthalmological physician is recommended. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: NA Laryngoscope, 130:1270-1277, 2020.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the risk of ocular complications following radiotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). METHODS: We adopted 1:1 propensity score matching and identified an NPC cohort (n = 736) and a comparison cohort (n = 736) that comprised non-NPC head and neck cancerpatients who received radiotherapy in the National Health Insurance Research Database from 1997 to 2010. The follow-up period was terminated upon developing ocular complications (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification [ICD-9-CM]360-379) or on December 31, 2010. RESULTS: After adjusting for the confounding factors of the study, the NPC cohort had a higher adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for developing ocular complications than the comparison cohort (adjusted HR = 2.786, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.805-4.112, P < 0.001). The NPC cohort was associated with a significantly higher risk of developing ocular complications compared with the comparison cohort within 12 and after 24 months of follow-up (P < 0.05). The most common associated ocular complications were optic nerve disorder and retinopathy. CONCLUSIONS:Patients with NPC might be at higher risk of developing ocular complications after radiotherapy than non-NPC head and neck cancerpatients in Taiwan. Either further investigation or routine assessments by ophthalmological physician is recommended. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: NA Laryngoscope, 130:1270-1277, 2020.