Retinal lesions could serve as biomarker for CVD
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The presence of retinal ischemic perivascular lesions may signal that a patient also has CVD, according to data published in EClinicalMedicine.
“Identifying biomarkers of subclinical ischemia can help identify patients with occult cardiovascular disease. Individuals with cardiovascular disease are prone to developing retinal vascular occlusions,” Christopher P. Long, MD, resident at the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues wrote. “On spectral domain OCT, small retinal infarctions manifest in the acute phase as a hyperreective perivenular band at the level of the inner nuclear layer which ultimately atrophies. These lesions have been shown to occur in eyes with ischemia resulting from hypoperfusion or microemboli. ... High-resolution imaging of the retinal microvasculature using OCT angiography demonstrates blood ow signal voids in the acute phase, further supporting an ischemic etiology for these lesions.”
To investigate whether the presence of retinal ischemic perivascular lesions could serve as a biomarker for CVD, researchers assessed OCT scans from 84 patients with CVD and 76 healthy controls. Researchers further risk-stratified individuals utilizing the 10-year atherosclerotic CVD risk calculator.
The researchers found patients with CVD had a higher number of retinal ischemic perivascular lesions than healthy controls (2.8 vs. 0.8; P < .001), and each retinal ischemic perivascular lesion was associated with CVD at an OR of 1.6 (95% CI, 1.09-2.37; P = .02) after adjustment. Patients with intermediate and high 10-year ASCVD risk scores had more retinal ischemic perivascular lesions compared with patients with low 10-year ASCVD risk scores (intermediate, 1.7; low, 0.64; P = .02; high, 2.9; low, 0.64; P = .002), Long and colleagues wrote.
“Tests that can help identify patients with cardiovascular disease may lead to earlier interventions, thereby reducing the odds of subsequent adverse cardiovascular events,” Long and colleagues wrote. “The presence of retinal ischemic perivascular lesions thereby represents additional valuable information that is readily obtainable from a standard retinal examination.”
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