Abstract
Purpose:
To date, glaucoma has been reported to have associations with several cardiovascular disorders clinically and genetically. In this study, we investigated relevant risk factors with vertical cup-to-disc ratio (VCDR), an important indicator of glaucoma, using Japanese cohort.
Methods:
We included 3,655 Japanese healthy volunteers from the Nagahama Study. To examine the risk factors associated with VCDR, all relevant factors including atherosclerosis, blood pressure, retinal vascular diameter and ocular parameters were used in a stepwise multiple regression analysis with VCDR.
Results:
Mean VCDR was 0.449±0.122. Among 11 explanatory variables selected in the predictive model, disc area, diameters of the central retinal artery and the vein, age, body weight, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, axial length, spherical equivalent refraction, and corneal curvature made significant contributions to the model (P<2×10-16, β=0.55; P=0013, β=-0.057; P=8.3×10-7, β=-0.086; P=0.020, β=0.056; P=0.00067, β=-0.059; P=0.036, β=-0.063; P=0.00071, β=0.094; P=0.00011, β=-0.16; P=0.0047, β=-0.11; and P=0.0011, β=0.082, respectively; β, standardized partial regression coefficient).
Conclusions:
We showed associations between VCDR and retinal vascular diameters after adjustment for blood pressure and ocular parameters. Our data suggests that atherosclerosis and smaller retinal vascular diameters may precede larger optic disc cupping, which could result in the development of glaucoma.