Is There an Association Between Hepatitis B and Atherosclerosis?

Objectives: Although hepatitis B infection can cause chronic disease, its association with atherosclerosis is a matter of debate. Retinopathy is an early marker for microvascular abnormalities of retinal circulation and some reports state that it can predict cardiovascular events. In this study, we aimed to evaluate early atherosclerosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) using retrobulbar flow velocities. Materials and Methods: The study included 56 patients with CHB and 45 controls. Patients with hepatitis B who attended Umraniye Training and Research Hospital Gastroenterology outpatient clinics were screened. Pulsed Doppler documentation of flow velocity was obtained from ophthalmic artery, posterior ciliary artery and central retinal artery (CRA). The resistive index for each artery was calculated using the following formula: peak systolic velocity (PSV)-end-diastolic velocity (EDV)/PSV. Results: The mean age of the patients and controls was 46.18 +/- 13.7 and 45.89 +/- 8.6 years, respectively. There were 29 males and 27 females in CHB group and 16 males and 29 females in control group. The patients with CHB had statistically lower PS flow and ED flow of CRA compared to controls [(10.9 +/- 3.1 vs 12.1 +/- 3.09, p = 0.047) and (2,8 +/- 1,1 vs 3,2 +/- 1,1, p = 0.027), respectively]. Conclusion: Our findings show no increase in retrobulbar flow velocities of patients with CHB compared to controls.