During
your regular eye exam we thoroughly and carefully exam the tiny blood vessels
in your Retina-especially for seniors and others who have high blood pressure,
other vascular disease and diabetes. For patients with hypertension or high
blood one of very important things we can tell from your eye health is you
potential risk of stroke. In the past assessment of the signs of hypertensive
retinopathy-the retinal vascular condition that results from high blood
pressure-has been recommended for determining end organ damage such as kidney
and heart problems.
According
to researchers reporting in the journal Hypertension there is a clear predictive value of evaluating whether
hypertensive retinopathy predicts the long-term risk of stroke in those with
hypertension. In this study,
participants with hypertension aged 50 to 73 years had gradable retinal
photographs, no history of diabetes mellitus, stroke, and coronary heart
disease at baseline and data on incident stroke, were included from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC)
Study. Retinal photographs were assessed for hypertensive retinopathy signs
and classified as none, mild, and moderate/severe. Any history of stroke,
cerebral infarction or hemorrhagic stroke were identified and confirmed. The results showed that after adjusting for
age, sex, blood pressure and other risk factors, persons with moderate
hypertensive retinopathy were more likely to have stroke. Even in patients with hypertension on
medication with good control of blood pressure, hypertensive retinopathy was
related to an increased risk of stroke!
From
this study we know that hypertensive retinopathy predicts the long term risk of
stroke, independent of blood pressure, even in treated patients with
hypertension with good hypertension control. Thus, if you have high blood
pressure, it is often important for us to obtain photographs at your eye
examination in order to document and assess hypertensive retinopathy signs that
may be useful for assessment of your stroke risk.
