Retinal Ischemic Lesions and Risk of Heart Disease

Article: Heart Disease is in the Eye of the Beholder
Source: University of California, San Diego, via ScienceDaily
Published: March 2, 2021

Researchers from the Shiley Eye Institute at UC San Diego recently published a small study to investigate the correlation between retinal ischemic perivascular lesions (RIPLs) and risk of cardiovascular disease. The microvasculature of the retina is a window to the health of larger vessels and organs in the body, so the research team sought to determine if it could serve as a biomarker of cardiovascular disease. They compared a cohort of 84 individuals with heart disease with 76 healthy individuals through chart review of ocular coherence tomography (OCT) findings between July 2014 and July 2019. An increased number of RIPLs was observed in the eyes of individuals with heart disease, which the researchers correlate with increased risk of heart disease. The study references the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk score calculator, the national guideline developed by the American College of Cardiology, as the guideline for assessing risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke. The researchers found a positive correlation between the number of RIPLs in a patient’s eye and their ASCVD risk score. This study offers an interesting approach to the connection between retinal microvasculature and cardiovascular health. The population size is small and the study design and inferences are indirect. Nonetheless, it is a reminder of the eye's unique window to help reduce risk of disease in the rest of the body.

My rating of this study: ⭐

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