Refractive errors not linked to blood pressure and retinal vessel diameters

Refraction had no appreciable effect on the association of blood pressure and retinal vein diameters or on the arteriole-to-venule ratio, according to a study. The authors noted that refraction correction may not be important in epidemiologic studies.

Tien Yin Wong and colleagues studied the retinal photographs from 3,654 participants in the Blue Mountains Eye Study, a population-based study in Australia. Retinal vessels located near the disc margin were measured and then combined to provide the average diameter of retinal arterioles and venules of that eye, the ratio of the diameters and the arteriole-to-venule ratio (AVR).

Before correction, each 10 mm Hg increase in mean arterial blood pressure was associated with a 3.7 µm decrease in arteriolar diameter and a 0.9 µm decrease in venular diameter. After correction, values remained the same. Refraction was not associated with the AVR and had no effect on the association of blood pressure and AVR.

The study is published in the June issue of American Journal of Ophthalmology.