(HealthDay)—Patients with exfoliation syndrome (XFS) may be at increased risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a study published in the January-February issue of Ophthalmology Glaucoma.

Samuel C. Taylor, from the University of Utah School of Medicine and John Moran Eye Center in Salt Lake City, and colleagues used Utah Population Database-linked medical records to identify 2,943 patients with XFS, 20,589 patients with COPD, and 162 patients with both disorders. All patients were seen between 1996 and 2015.

The researchers found that in patients with XFS, risk for a COPD diagnosis was increased versus non-XFS controls (odds ratio, 1.41), particularly in a subset of tobacco users (odds ratio, 2.17). There was no difference in risk for an XFS diagnosis between COPD patients and controls. Better survival was seen among COPD patients with XFS versus patients with COPD and no XFS history.

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