Abstract
Purpose :
To explore the correlation between indicators of ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) and retinal structure and microvasculature in a cross-sectional community�based population study, and to further explore the moderating role of age and gender on their relationship.
Methods :
2447 subjects were finally included in the study analysis. All subjects underwent a detailed and comprehensive physical examination, laboratory tests, ophthalmologic examination, and an interview-based questionnaire. All data on all 7 lifestyle items (LS7), categorized into 3 medical and 4 behavioral indicators, were obtained and assigned a score. Subjects were divided into three groups based on LS7 scores. Retinal ganglion cell layer (GCC) thickness and capillary plexus (RCP) vessel density were measured using OCT and OCTA.
Results :
The mean age (standard deviation) was 44.9 (11.7) years, with 1144 (46.7%) participants being male. The composite LS7 score and medical score were positively correlated with deep retinal capillary plexus (DCP) density. At the same time, there was no correlation with GCC thickness or superficial retinal capillary plexus (SCP) density. No significant correlations were found between behavioral indicators and retinal structure and microvasculature. Results of multivariate generalized linear models showed that participants in the intermediate group with LS7 scores had higher DCP vessel density compared to the poorer group. The intermediate and ideal groups for medical indicators were significantly associated with higher DCP vessel density, whereas behavioral indicators were not significantly associated with DCP vessel density. In addition, no correlation was found between CVH metrics and GCC thickness and SCP vessel density. In subgroup analyses, age and sex did not significantly moderate the correlation between ideal CVH metrics and retinal structure and microvasculature .
Conclusions :
Higher LS7 scores and medical scores were associated with higher DCP vascular density, with medical index scores being the main factor affecting retinal vascular density in LS7. This study suggests a protective effect of controlling fasting blood glucose levels, blood pressure levels and total cholesterol levels on retinal microvasculature. It supports the positive role of desirable cardiovascular health indicators in the prevention of retinopathy.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.