Abstract

Aim: Pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PEX) is a form of systemic elastic microfibrillopathy that affects multiple organs. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of PEX in the Çorum province of Turkey and its relationship to various clinical manifestations.

Materials and Methods: A total of 1,013 patients underwent a comprehensive ophthalmic examination. Clinical diagnosis of PEX was established based on the presence of pseudoexfoliative material on the anterior lens capsule surface or the pupillary margin during slit-lamp biomicroscopy after pupillary dilation, or during surgery. Data were obtained from medical histories and patient records, including age, sex, history of ocular and systemic diseases, and systemic medication use. The systemic conditions evaluated included diabetes mellitus (DM), systemic hypertension (HT), ischemic heart disease (IHD), cerebrovascular disease (CVD), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: PEX was identified in 154 of the 1,013 patients, yielding an overall prevalence of 15.2%. The prevalence of HT (p = 0.009), IHD (p < 0.001), and CVD (p = 0.036) was significantly higher in patients with PEX. Although the prevalence of DM was lower and COPD was slightly higher in the PEX group, these differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.069 and p = 0.472, respectively).

Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that even within geographically similar regions, the prevalence of pseudoexfoliation varies alongside different systemic comorbidities. These findings may be fundamental for identifying patients at an increased risk of systemic disease and for potentially tailoring follow-up protocols according to regional data, thereby improving public health and clinical outcomes.

Keywords: pseudoexfoliation, hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease

Copyright and license

Copyright © 2026 The Author(s). This is an open-access article published by Bolu İzzet Baysal Training and Research Hospital under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

How to cite

1.
Üçer MB, Ercan ZE, Cevher S. Pseudoexfoliation syndrome in the Çorum region and its systemic associations: a population-based study. Northwestern Med J. 2026;6(2):149-55. https://doi.org/10.54307/2026.NWMJ.183

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