Retinal Microvascular Abnormalities tied to increased risks of all-cause and CVD mortality, suggests study

Key Findings

Prevalence of RMA:

• RMA was present in 17.9% of participants (weighted).

• Retinopathy: 9.8% (weighted).

• AVN: 9.3% (weighted).

• FAN: 1.0% (weighted).

• HP: 0.3% (weighted).

Mortality Rates and Associations:

• Among 1488 deaths, 452 due to CVD, 341 due to cancer, and 695 other causes.

• RMA was related with increased hazards for all-cause mortality (HR 1.26; 95% CI 1.07–1.47), CVD mortality (HR 1.36; 95% CI 1.06–1.73), and other-cause mortality (HR 1.33; 95% CI 1.06–1.67).

• Retinopathy in particular was associated with increased hazards of all-cause mortality (HR 1.36; 95% CI 1.09–1.71), CVD mortality (HR 1.53; 95% CI 1.04–2.26), and other-cause mortality (HR 1.55; 95% CI 1.20–2.01).

• FAN was strongly related to other-cause mortality (HR 2.06; 95% CI 1.16–3.65).

Subgroup Analysis:

• AVN was not related to mortality in the general population.

• Among obese individuals, AVN was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR 1.68; 95% CI 1.12–2.52) and CVD mortality (HR 1.96; 95% CI 1.23–3.13).

This study showed that RMA is independently associated with increased risks of all-cause, CVD, and other-cause mortality in U.S. adults aged 40 years or older. The findings point out the prognostic value of RMA in predicting long-term survival and underscore the importance of integrating retinal health into broader cardiovascular and systemic disease management strategies.

Reference:

Chen, X., Si, H., Fu, Y. et al. Association of retinal microvascular abnormalities with all-cause and specific-cause mortality among U.S. adults. BMC Public Health 24, 3572 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-21117-0