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Retinal venular dilation predictive of mortality, Rotterdam Study finds
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Retinal venular dilation was found to be an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality, in a study of patients from the Rotterdam Eye Study.
“Patients with larger venular diameters are at a 7% increased risk of death,” M. Kamran Ikram, MD, said at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting. “Larger retinal venular diameters, rather than smaller diameters, are associated with mortality.”
For this study, data from 5,674 participants of the Rotterdam Eye Study were reviewed. Patients in the study enrolled in the early 1990s and were followed at an average of 9 years, Dr. Ikram said.
Patients arteriolar and venular diameters were measured, and an arteriolar-to-venular (AVR) ratio was calculated. Eighty-four percent of images were eligible for analysis. By the final follow-up, 1,762 study participants had died.
Patients with larger venular diameters (median venular thickness 222 µm) were more likely to have died than patients with smaller venular diameters. Small or large arteriolar diameters (median arteriolar thickness 146.9 µm) and AVRs had no bearing on mortality, Dr. Ikram said.
He said that the association between venular dilatation and mortality may be related to systemic cardiovascular health. “The systemic vascular damage may be due to arteriosclerosis or hypertension,” he noted.