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. 2018 Oct 1;18(1):187.
doi: 10.1186/s12872-018-0922-1.

Relationship of ideal cardiovascular health metrics with retinal vessel calibers and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness: a cross-sectional study

Qian Zhang  1   2   3   4 , Dandan Wang  1   2   3   4 , Anxin Wang  1   2   3   4 , Shufeng Zhang  5 , Yuesong Pan  1   2   3   4 , Yang Li  6 , Shengyun Chen  1   2   3   4 , Shouling Wu  7 , Wenbin Wei  8 , Xingquan Zhao  9   10   11   12
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Relationship of ideal cardiovascular health metrics with retinal vessel calibers and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness: a cross-sectional study

Qian Zhang et al. BMC Cardiovasc Disord. .

Abstract

Background: Ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) metrics have been found to be associated with subclinical vascular abnormalities. However, the relationship between ideal CVH metrics and retinal vessel calibers and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in a Chinese population is unknown.

Methods: We collected information on the seven ideal CVH metrics among 3376 participants aged 40 years or older from the Asymptomatic Polyvascular Abnormalities Community Study in 2012. Retinal vessel calibers and RNFL thickness were assessed by retinal photography and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. Multivariable linear models were used to analyze the relationship between ideal CVH metrics and retinal parameters.

Results: With the decreased number of ideal CVH metrics, central retinal arteriolar equivalents (CRAE) was significantly narrowed and arterio- venous ratio (AVR) significantly decreased (p < 0.0001). While the RNFL thickness and central retinal venous equivalents (CRVE) showed no significant changes with the decreased ideal CVH metrics. Linear regression showed that both CRAE and AVR was positively related with the number of ideal CVH metrics (regression coefficient beta: 0.806, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.266-1.346 for CRAE (micron); and regression coefficient beta: 0.005, 95% CI: 0.002-0.009 for AVR) after adjusting for age (year), sex = male (n), education (n), average monthly income (¥) and other related risk factors.

Conclusions: These findings suggested a clear positive relationship between the number of ideal CVH metrics and CRAE and AVR in Chinese population, supporting the importance of ideal health behaviors and factors in subclinical vascular abnormalities prevention.

Keywords: Ideal cardiovascular health metrics; Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness; Retinal vessel calibers.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was performed according to the guidelines of Helsinki Declaration and was approved by both the Ethics Committees of the Kailuan General Hospital and Beijing Tiantan Hospital. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants and approved by the above ethics committees.

Consent for publication

Not applicable

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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