Subretinal drusenoid deposits linked with cardiovascular disease
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Patients with age-related macular degeneration with subretinal drusenoid deposits may be at greater risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke, according to a study.
In a press release from New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, lead author R. Theodore Smith, MD, PhD, said there has long been a suspected link between AMD and cardiovascular disease, but there has not been any conclusive data to support the association.
“Our retinal team answered this important question by focusing on two different varieties of AMD that can be seen with advanced retinal imaging,” Smith said in the release. “We discovered that only one form of AMD, that with subretinal drusenoid deposits, is tightly connected to high-risk vascular diseases, and the other form, known as drusen, is not.”
One hundred twenty-six patients with AMD were classified as having subretinal drusenoid deposits (SDD) (with or without soft drusen, 62 patients) or non-SDD (drusen only, 64 patients). After patients answered a health history questionnaire, 51 were identified as having cardiovascular disease or stroke.
Among patients who reported having cardiovascular disease or stroke, 66% had SDD. Among patients who did not report having cardiovascular disease or stroke, 19% had SDD. Patients with cardiovascular disease were three times more likely to have SDD than patients without SDD.
Underlying cardiovascular disease could limit blood circulation in the eye, eventually leading to AMD and vision problems.
“If ophthalmologists diagnose or treat someone with the specific subretinal drusenoid deposits form of AMD, but who otherwise seems well, that patient may have significant undetected heart disease or possibly carotid artery stenosis that could result in a stroke,” Smith said in the release. “We foresee that in the future, as an improved standard of care, such patients will be considered for early referral to a cardiologist for evaluation and possibly treatment.”
Reference:
- Blinding eye disease is strongly associated with heart disease and stroke. https://www.mountsinai.org/about/newsroom/2022/blinding-eye-disease-is-strongly-associated-with-heart-disease-and-stroke. Published July 12, 2022. Accessed July 12, 2022.
Collapse
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts