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Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) measurements in patients with retinal vein occlusionB. Kacer1, L. O. Hattenbach1, C. Thalhammer2
Introduction: Retinal vein occlusion may result in permanent, severe visual impairment. Endothelial cell proliferation, inflammatory changes of the vessel wall or thrombosis are among the mechanisms which have been implicated in this disorder. Moreover, it has been postulated that retinal arterial wall changes may impinge the veins and thus reduce their lumen because of their confinement with arteries within the tight connective tissue of the lamina cribrosa or at arteriovenous crossings. The objective of our study was to evaluate the implications of carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) measurements in patients with retinal venous occlusions.
Methods: Complete ophthalmic examinations and high resolution B-mode ultrasonography including IMT measurements were performed in 10 patients with central (CRVO) or branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) and in 10 age- and sex-matched controls.
Results: The median IMT in patients with CRVO or BRVO was 0.60 mm (minimum 0.55 mm; maximum 0.75 mm) and 0.65 mm (minimum 0.55 mm; maximum 0.65 mm) in controls. This difference was clearly not statistically significant (P=0.33).
Conclusions: Based on our IMT measurements, the hypothesis of the decisive role of arterial wall changes in the pathogenesis of retinal vein occlusion was not confirmed. Since carotid artery ultrasonography constitutes a valuable tool in the evaluation of cardiovascular disorders such as arterial hypertension, atherosclerosis or coronary artery disease, it may be speculated that this technique has the potential to provide us with new insights into the pathogenesis of retinal vein occlusion.
Department of Ophthalmology1 and Department of Internal Medicine I2, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Hospital, D-60590 Frankfurt am Main