Retinal vessel status in the elderly reflects small vessel disease in the brain
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - There are associations between findings on cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and retinal photography in the elderly, as has been already been established for small vessel disease in younger subjects, according to researchers.
Lead investigator Dr. W. T. Longstreth, Jr. told Reuters Health, "Evidence of small vessel disease in the retina increases the likelihood of finding it in the brain." Nevertheless, he added, "associations were less prominent in this elderly population than have been described in middle-aged people."
Longstreth, of the University of Washington, Seattle, and colleagues studied MRI findings and retinal photographs from 1707 subjects aged 65 years or more who had taken part in a cardiovascular health study. They report the results in the January issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology
After controlling for age and gender, the team found associations between a smaller ratio of retinal arterioles and venules with MRI findings, including prevalent infarcts, worsening white matter grade, and incident infarct., Arteriovenous nicking was also associated with prevalent and incident infarcts.
The researchers conclude that these and other findings "support the importance of small vessel disease as a cause of brain injury and subsequent and subsequent disability, which may have implications for prevention and treatment."
Am J Epidemiol 2007;165:78-84.