Ophthalmic Complications Associated with Direct Oral Anticoagulant Medications

ABSTRACTObjective: To describe the clinical features and management of six patients with ocular complications associated with direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs). Methods: The medical records of all adult patients known to be taking a DOAC and with an unusual bleeding event at a large tertiary referral center over a one-year period were reviewed. Patients with less than one-month follow-up were excluded. Data collection included relevant clinic notes, operative reports, surgical videos, and clinical images (fundus photography, optical coherence tomography, B-scan ultrasonography, and fluorescein angiography). Results: Six eyes in six patients were identified with an unusual bleeding event associated with DOAC use. One patient was taking apixaban, two patients were taking dabigatran, and three patients were taking rivaroxaban. Two patients had large submacular hemorrhage (including one with vitreous hemorrhage breakthrough), three patients had vitreous hemorrhage, and one patient had recurrent hyphema. Pres...