Carotid artery stenosis linked to retinal changes in patients with diabetic retinopathy
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Key takeaways:
- Significant differences in vessel density, foveal avascular zone area and RNFL thickness were reported between those with normal or more severe stenosis.
- Hyperlipidemia, cholesterol levels and IOP also differed.
Researchers reported an association between the severity of internal carotid artery stenosis and retinal health in proliferative diabetic retinopathy, highlighting the importance of carotid artery evaluations in these patients.
“Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis are interconnected conditions with implications for severe vision loss,” researchers at Maryknoll Hospital in Korea wrote in BMC Ophthalmology. “Understanding the intricate interplay between PDR and ICA stenosis is essential due to their potential bidirectional influence on each other.”
To clarify the relationship between these complications of diabetes mellitus and identify potential risk factors, researchers conducted a retrospective study of 68 patients (average age, 62.55 years) diagnosed with bilateral PDR. They assessed carotid artery stenosis using neck computed tomography angiography and carotid duplex ultrasound and grouped participants as having normal (< 50%; n = 51) or mild to severe ( 50%; n = 17) stenosis.
Researchers also measured subfoveal retinal thickness, retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness, vessel density and foveal avascular zone area using OCT and OCT angiography.
According to results, there were statistically significant differences between groups in total vessel density (13.73 vs. 11.53; P = .003), foveal avascular zone area (0.53 vs. 0.56; P= .002) and total (97.87 vs. 95.04; P = .013) and temporal RNFL thickness (82.46 vs. 71.75; P = .019).
Researchers also reported significant differences in hyperlipidemia, total cholesterol and IOP between groups, but no significant differences in subfoveal retinal thickness, central vessel density, average ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness and thickness of the superior, nasal and inferior RNFL.
“These alterations underscore the necessity for carotid artery evaluation in PDR patients, suggesting a link between ICA stenosis, blood flow changes and retinal health,” researchers wrote.
Collapse
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts