Retinal vascular calibres are significantly associated with cardiovascular risk factors: the Tromsø Eye Study.

To describe the association between retinal vascular calibres and cardiovascular risk factors. Population-based cross-sectional study including 6353 participants of the Tromsø Eye Study in Norway aged 38-87 years. Retinal arteriolar calibre (central retinal artery equivalent) and retinal venular calibre (central retinal vein equivalent) were measured computer-assisted on retinal photographs. Data on blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and smoking were collected. Association between retinal vessel calibre and the cardiovascular risk factors was assessed by multivariable linear and logistic regression analyses. Retinal arteriolar calibre was independently associated with age, blood pressure, HbA1c and smoking in women and men, and with HDL cholesterol in men only. Blood pressure had the strongest effect on arteriolar calibre, with a decrease in calibre of 3.6 μm (women)/4.1 μm (men) per standard deviation increase in mean arterial blood pressure. Retinal venular calibre was independently associated with age, blood pressure, BMI, HDL and LDL cholesterol and smoking in men and women. The effect of BMI and HDL cholesterol on venular calibre was sigifnicantly stronger in men than in women. Current smoking was the most important factor for venular calibre, where smokers had 13.2 μm (women)/15.2 μm (men) wider calibre than nonsmokers. All the explored cardiovascular risk factors were independently associated with retinal vascular calibre, with stronger effect of HDL cholesterol and BMI in men than in women. Blood pressure and smoking contributed most to the explained variance.

von Hanno T ，Bertelsen G ，Sjølie AK ，Mathiesen EB ... -  《-》

Retinal Vasculometry Associations with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer-Norfolk Study.

To examine associations between retinal vessel morphometry and cardiometabolic risk factors in older British men and women. Retinal imaging examination as part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk Eye Study. Retinal imaging and clinical assessments were carried out in 7411 participants. Retinal images were analyzed using a fully automated validated computerized system that provides novel measures of vessel morphometry. Associations between cardiometabolic risk factors, chronic disease, and retinal markers were analyzed using multilevel linear regression, adjusted for age, gender, and within-person clustering, to provide percentage differences in tortuosity and absolute differences in width. Retinal arteriolar and venular tortuosity and width. In all, 279 802 arterioles and 285 791 venules from 5947 participants (mean age, 67.6 years; standard deviation [SD], 7.6 years; 57% female) were analyzed. Increased venular tortuosity was associated with higher body mass index (BMI; 2.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.7%-3.3% per 5 kg/m2), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level (2.2%; 95% CI, 1.0%-3.5% per 1%), and prevalent type 2 diabetes (6.5%; 95% CI, 2.8%-10.4%); wider venules were associated with older age (2.6 μm; 95% CI, 2.2-2.9 μm per decade), higher triglyceride levels (0.6 μm; 95% CI, 0.3-0.9 μm per 1 mmol/l), BMI (0.7 μm; 95% CI, 0.4-1.0 per 5 kg/m2), HbA1c level (0.4 μm; 95% CI, -0.1 to 0.9 per 1%), and being a current smoker (3.0 μm; 95% CI, 1.7-4.3 μm); smoking also was associated with wider arterioles (2.1 μm; 95% CI, 1.3-2.9 μm). Thinner venules were associated with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) (1.4 μm; 95% CI, 0.7-2.2 per 1 mmol/l). Arteriolar tortuosity increased with age (5.4%; 95% CI, 3.8%-7.1% per decade), higher systolic blood pressure (1.2%; 95% CI, 0.5%-1.9% per 10 mmHg), in females (3.8%; 95% CI, 1.4%-6.4%), and in those with prevalent stroke (8.3%; 95% CI, -0.6% to 18%); no association was observed with prevalent myocardial infarction. Narrower arterioles were associated with age (0.8 μm; 95% CI, 0.6-1.0 μm per decade), higher systolic blood pressure (0.5 μm; 95% CI, 0.4-0.6 μm per 10 mmHg), total cholesterol level (0.2 μm; 95% CI, 0.0-0.3 μm per 1 mmol/l), and HDL (1.2 μm; 95% CI, 0.7-1.6 μm per 1 mmol/l). Metabolic risk factors showed a graded association with both tortuosity and width of retinal venules, even among people without clinical diabetes, whereas atherosclerotic risk factors correlated more closely with arteriolar width, even excluding those with hypertension and cardiovascular disease. These noninvasive microvasculature measures should be evaluated further as predictors of future cardiometabolic disease.

Owen CG ，Rudnicka AR ，Welikala RA ，Fraz MM ，Barman SA ，Luben R ，Hayat SA ，Khaw KT ，Strachan DP ，Whincup PH ，Foster PJ ... -  《-》

Relative importance of systemic determinants of retinal arteriolar and venular caliber: the atherosclerosis risk in communities study.

Liew G ，Sharrett AR ，Wang JJ ，Klein R ，Klein BE ，Mitchell P ，Wong TY ... -  《-》

Retinal vascular caliber, blood pressure, and cardiovascular risk factors in an Asian population: the Singapore Malay Eye Study.

Sun C ，Liew G ，Wang JJ ，Mitchell P ，Saw SM ，Aung T ，Tai ES ，Wong TY ... -  《INVESTIGATIVE OPHTHALMOLOGY & VISUAL SCIENCE》

Determinants of retinal venular diameter: the Beaver Dam Eye Study.

To describe how retinal venular diameter changes over time for an individual and to examine differences in these changes among people with different risk profiles. Population-based cohort study. A total of 4600 persons aged 43 to 86 years from the Beaver Dam Eye Study (BDES) who participated in at least 1 examination and had venular diameter measured in the right eye. Data from 4 examinations during a 15-year period were analyzed. Retinal venular diameter was measured from photographs at each examination by computer-assisted methods and summarized as the central retinal venular equivalent (CRVE). Associations of risk factors with concurrent CRVE measurements and changes in CRVE over time were determined using multivariate analyses. Central retinal venular equivalent. The CRVE tended to narrow with age. Mean CRVE was approximately 5 μm smaller (225 vs. 230 μm) for the average 70-year-old compared with the average 50-year-old, and was approximately 13 μm smaller (217 vs. 230 μm) for the average 85-year-old compared with the average 50-year-old. Male sex (beta estimate [β] = 5.24; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.58-6.90), history of current cigarette smoking (β = 9.38; 95% CI, 8.26-10.49), and higher white blood cell (WBC) count (per 1000/μL: β = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.74-1.16) were independently associated with larger concurrent CRVE, whereas higher mean arterial blood pressure (per 5 mmHg: β = -0.36; 95% CI, -0.50 to -0.23) and higher serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (per 10 mg/dl: β = 0.89; 95% CI, -1.15 to -0.63) were independently associated with smaller concurrent CRVE. History of cardiovascular disease (CVD) (β = -0.16; 95% CI, -0.26 to -0.06) and presence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) (β = -0.20; 95% CI, -0.34 to -0.05) were associated with a greater decrease in CRVE over time. These data show that retinal venular diameter tends to narrow with age; concurrent venular diameter is independently associated with sex, blood pressure, serum HDL cholesterol, WBC count, and history of current cigarette smoking; and change in CRVE is independently associated with a history of CVD and presence of CKD. The different independent effects of these interrelated factors on CRVE highlight the complex relationship between CRVE and systemic diseases and conditions and the difficulty in determining specific causes of change in CRVE over time. The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.

Myers CE ，Klein R ，Knudtson MD ，Lee KE ，Gangnon R ，Wong TY ，Klein BE ... -  《-》