Retinal arteriolar narrowing and risk of coronary heart disease in men and women. The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study - PubMed (original) (raw)

Retinal arteriolar narrowing and risk of coronary heart disease in men and women. The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Tien Yin Wong et al. JAMA. 2002.

Abstract

Context: Microvascular processes have been hypothesized to play a greater role in the development of coronary heart disease (CHD) in women than in men; however, prospective clinical data are limited.

Objective: To examine the association between retinal arteriolar narrowing, a marker of microvascular damage from hypertension and inflammation, and incident CHD in healthy middle-aged women and men.

Design, setting, and participants: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, an ongoing prospective, population-based cohort study in 4 US communities initiated in 1987-1989. Retinal photographs were taken in 9648 women and men aged 51 to 72 years without CHD at the third examination (1993-1995). To quantify retinal arteriolar narrowing, the photographs were digitized, individual arteriolar and venular diameters were measured, and a summary arteriole-to-venule ratio (AVR) was calculated.

Main outcome measure: Risk of CHD associated with retinal arteriolar narrowing.

Results: During an average 3.5 years of follow-up, 84 women and 187 men experienced incident CHD events. In women, after controlling for mean arterial blood pressure averaged over the previous 6 years, diabetes, cigarette smoking, plasma lipid levels, and other risk factors, each SD decrease in the AVR was associated with an increased risk of any incident CHD (relative risk [RR], 1.37; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08-1.72) and of acute myocardial infarction (RR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.10-2.04). In contrast, AVR was unrelated to any incident CHD in men (RR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.84-1.18) or to acute myocardial infarction (RR, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.85-1.38).

Conclusion: Retinal arteriolar narrowing is related to risk of CHD in women but not in men, supporting a more prominent microvascular role in the development of CHD in women than in men. Future work is needed to confirm these findings.

PubMed Disclaimer

Cited by

Phenotypic and genetic characteristics of retinal vascular parameters and their association with diseases.
Ortín Vela S, Beyeler MJ, Trofimova O, Iuliani I, Vargas Quiros JD, de Vries VA, Meloni I, Elwakil A, Hoogewoud F, Liefers B, Presby D, Ramdas WD, Tomasoni M, Schlingemann R, Klaver CCW, Bergmann S. Ortín Vela S, et al. Nat Commun. 2024 Nov 6;15(1):9593. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-52334-1. Nat Commun. 2024. PMID: 39505872 Free PMC article.
μCT imaging of a multi-organ vascular fingerprint in rats.
Napieczyńska H, Kedziora SM, Haase N, Müller DN, Heuser A, Dechend R, Kräker K. Napieczyńska H, et al. PLoS One. 2024 Oct 14;19(10):e0308601. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0308601. eCollection 2024. PLoS One. 2024. PMID: 39401231 Free PMC article.
Retinal Imaging-Based Oculomics: Artificial Intelligence as a Tool in the Diagnosis of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases.
Ghenciu LA, Dima M, Stoicescu ER, Iacob R, Boru C, Hațegan OA. Ghenciu LA, et al. Biomedicines. 2024 Sep 23;12(9):2150. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines12092150. Biomedicines. 2024. PMID: 39335664 Free PMC article. Review.
Human exposure to aerosol from indoor gas stove cooking and the resulting cardiovascular system responses.
Naseri M, Sultanbekovna AA, Malekipirbazari M, Kenzhegaliyeva E, Buonanno G, Stabile L, Hopke PK, Cassee F, Crape B, Sabanov S, Zhumambayeva S, Ozturk F, Tadi MJ, Torkmahalleh MA, Shah D. Naseri M, et al. Toxicol Rep. 2024 Aug 17;13:101716. doi: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2024.101716. eCollection 2024 Dec. Toxicol Rep. 2024. PMID: 39262849 Free PMC article.

Retinal arteriolar narrowing and risk of coronary heart disease in men and women. The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study - PubMed (original) (raw)