Association of retinal microvascular curve tortuosity and multiple sclerosis: A cross-section analysis from the UK Biobank

Abstract

Background: There is growing evidence supporting that vascular abnormalities contribute to multiple sclerosis (MS), and retinal microvasculature functions as a visible window to observe vessels. We hypothesized that retinal vascular curve tortuosity is associated with MS, which this study aims to address.

Methods: Participants from the UK Biobank with complete clinical records and gradable fundus photos were included in the study. Arteriolar and venular curve tortuosity and vessel area density are quantified automatically using a deep learning system. Individuals with MS were matched to healthy controls using propensity score matching (PSM). Conditional logistic regression was used to investigate the association between retinal vascular characteristics and MS. We also used a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve to assess the diagnostic performance of MS.

Results: Venular curve tortuosity (VCT) was found to be significantly associated with MS. And patients with multiple sclerosis were probable to have lower VCT than the non-MS group (OR = 0.22 [95 % CI, 0.05 to 0.92], P < 0.05).

Conclusions: Our study reveals a significant association between vessel curve tortuosity and MS. The lower curve tortuosity of the retinal venular network may indicate a higher risk of incident multiple sclerosis.

Keywords: Fundus photography; Multiple sclerosis; UK Biobank; Vessel area density; Vessel curve tortuosity.