Am J Epidemiol 2004; 159:819-825.
Copyright © 2004 by the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS |
A Prospective Cohort Study of Retinal Arteriolar Narrowing and Mortality
1 Centre for Eye Research Australia, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
2 Singapore Eye Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
3 Department of Ophthalmology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
The authors examined the relation of narrowed retinal arteriolar diameters, a marker of hypertensive damage, to mortality in a population-based cohort of 4,926 persons aged 43–84 years living in Wisconsin. A computer-assisted method was used to measure retinal vessel diameters from digitized retinal photographs taken at the baseline examination (1988–1990). These measurements were summarized as the retinal arteriole-to-venule ratio (AVR), with a smaller AVR indicating narrower arterioles compared with venules. Its relation to 10-year mortality was analyzed by using Cox proportional hazards models, adjusting for age, gender, blood pressure, diabetes, and other risk factors. No relation was found between smaller AVR and increased mortality. In relation to the largest AVR quartile, the adjusted relative risks of all-cause mortality were 0.93 for the smallest AVR quartile, 0.71 for the second AVR quartile, and 0.80 for the third AVR quartile. Results were largely similar in analyses of cause-specific mortality (vascular disease and non-vascular-disease mortality) and in subgroups stratified by age, gender, and diabetes and hypertension status. These data contrast with recent studies showing a relation between narrowed retinal arterioles and increased cardiovascular risk, suggesting that further research is needed to understand the systemic associations of retinal microvascular changes.
arterioles; cardiovascular diseases; hypertension; mortality; retina; venules
Abbreviations: Abbreviations: ARIC, Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities; AVR, arteriole-to-venule ratio; HDL, high density lipoprotein.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  F. E. Hirai, S. E. Moss, M. D. Knudtson, B. E. K. Klein, and R. Klein Retinopathy and Survival in a Population without Diabetes: The Beaver Dam Eye Study Am. J. Epidemiol., September 15, 2007; 166(6): 724 - 730. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. J. Wang, G. Liew, R. Klein, E. Rochtchina, M. D. Knudtson, B. E.K. Klein, T. Y. Wong, G. Burlutsky, and P. Mitchell Retinal vessel diameter and cardiovascular mortality: pooled data analysis from two older populations Eur. Heart J., August 2, 2007; 28(16): 1984 - 1992. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J J Wang, G Liew, T Y Wong, W Smith, R Klein, S R Leeder, and P Mitchell Retinal vascular calibre and the risk of coronary heart disease-related death Heart, November 1, 2006; 92(11): 1583 - 1587. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 B.-J. H van den Born, C. A A Hulsman, J. B L Hoekstra, R. O Schlingemann, and G. A van Montfrans Value of routine funduscopy in patients with hypertension: systematic review BMJ, July 9, 2005; 331(7508): 73. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 Other articles noted Evid. Based Med., September 1, 2004; 9(5): e5 - e5. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|