Retinal blood vessel calibre and vascular ageing in a general Spanish population: A EVA study

Introduction The aim of this work was to analyse the association of the retinal arteriolar calibre and the arteriole/venule index (AV index) with vascular ageing in a general population without previous cardiovascular disease. Materials and methods Descriptive cross-sectional study. A total of 482 individuals without cardiovascular disease (mean age: 55.6 +/- 14.2 years) were selected by random sampling, stratified by age and sex. The retinal arteriolar calibre was measured using digital fundus images of the back of the eye captured with a validated, semiautomatized and computer-assisted software (Index calculator). Vascular ageing was defined using three criteria based on the values of: (1) Carotid-femoral Pulse Wave Velocity (cfPWV), (2) Brachial-ankle Pulse Wave Velocity (baPWV) and (3) Carotid Intima-Media Thickness. Results The AV index and arteriolar calibre show a negative correlation with age, arterial pressure, cardiovascular risk and parameters of vascular structure and function (p < 0.001 in all cases). We found lower mean values of the AV index and arteriolar calibre in the individuals with early vascular ageing compared to those with healthy vascular ageing. AV index was negatively correlated with cfPWV ((beta=-2.9; 95% CI (-4.7; -1.1)), baPWV ((beta=-3.2; 95% CI (-5.4; -0.9)) and vascular ageing index ((beta=-1.7; 95% CI (-2.7; -0.7)). Arteriolar calibre showed a negative correlation with baPWV (beta=-0.1; 95% CI (-0.2; -0.1)). In the logistic regression analysis, lower values of AV index ((OR=0.01; 95% CI (0.01-0.10), OR=0.03; 95% CI (0.01-0.11) and OR=0.09; 95% CI (0.01-0.67)) were associated with EVA defined with cfPWV, baPWV and vascular ageing index respectively, and lower values of arteriolar calibre ((OR=0.71; 95% CI (0.55-0.91)) were associated with EVA defined with vascular ageing index. Conclusions Lower values of AV index and retinal arteriolar calibre were associated with vascular ageing in a general Spanish population without previous cardiovascular disease.