Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To examine the association of ankle–brachial blood pressure index (ABI), a measure of peripheral atherosclerosis, with the prevalence of age–related maculopathy (ARM) and its component lesions. Methods: ABI was measured by standard protocol in 2505 subjects aged 53 to 97 years participating in the 1998–2000 examination of the Beaver Dam Eye Study. Low ABI is defined as ABI≤0.9. Subjects with ABI>1.5 (n=39) were excluded from the analysis. The presence and severity of ARM was determined from gradings of 30º color stereoscopic fundus photographs using the Wisconsin Age–Related Maculopathy Classification system. Results: Low ABI was present in 5.4% (131) of 2409 subjects with gradable ARM. Early ARM was present in 22.1% of subjects with compared to 18.8% of subjects without low ABI (p=0.24). Late ARM was present in 5.3% of subjects with compared to 1.7% in subjects without low ABI (p=0.01). However, after controlling for age, this result was no longer statistically significant (3.7% vs 2.2%, p=0.17). After further control for sex, smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, blood pressure, and use of statin drugs, low ABI was not associated with either early or late ARM. Furthermore, none of the lesions of early ARM, soft drusen, soft indistinct drusen, large drusen, increased pigment, RPE depigmentation, and pigmentary abnormalities, were associated with low ABI in any analysis. Conclusions: Low ABI does not appear to be a risk factor for early or late ARM.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment • age-related macular degeneration