Retinal vascular signs as risk markers for incident stroke or cerebrovascular death: A population-based assessment

视网膜血管体征作为中风或脑血管死亡风险标记：基于人群的评估

• 批准号: nhmrc : 153948
• 负责人: Prof Jie Jin Wang
• 金额: $ 27.35万
• 依托单位国家: 澳大利亚
• 项目类别: NHMRC Project Grants
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 澳大利亚
• 起止时间: 2001-01-01 至 2003-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://researchdata.edu.au/retinal-vascular-signs-based-assessment/81296
• 关键词: Retinal; vascular; signs; risk; markers

Stroke remains a major cause of disability and death in Australia. Preliminary data from the Blue Mountains Eye Study suggest that blood vessel changes observed in the retina at the back of the eye may provide signs of an increased risk of stroke or death from stroke. Importantly, although stroke is strongly associated with elevated blood pressure, the risk associated with these blood vessel signs seems to be independent of blood pressure. The proposed study will conduct a detailed re-grading of retinal photographs taken on people who attended the Eye Study during 1992-4 and 5-year follow-up exams during 1997-9. We will grade these photographs manually (using a stereo-viewer), and with computer assistance to measure changes in the diameter of small arteries in the retina and other signs. By closely matching our grading technique to that used in a large American Study, we hope to develop reliable grading for these signs and will be able to compare our findings internationally. Our aim is to assess the frequency of abnormal retinal vessel changes in people of different age groups as well as the development and progression of these signs over time. Their relationship to well known vascular risk factors like smoking, blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and cholesterol will also be investigated. We hope to be able to discriminate those changes associated with an increased stroke risk from those due to normal ageing. We expect that the increased stroke risk associated with abnormal retinal vessel changes may be greater than shown in our early data. If confirmed, then these findings may provide a more sensitive and objective measure of stroke risk than relying on traditional risk factors, which are difficult to quantify and change with time. We may be able to develop simple rules so that doctors using an ophthalmoscope or examining a retinal photograph could identify high risk patients. These people could benefit from interventions to reduce their risk.

中风仍然是澳大利亚残疾和死亡的主要原因。来自蓝山眼科研究的初步数据表明，在眼睛后部视网膜中观察到的血管变化可能提供中风或中风死亡风险增加的迹象。重要的是，虽然中风与血压升高密切相关，但与这些血管体征相关的风险似乎与血压无关。这项拟议的研究将对参加1992- 1997- 1999年4年和5年随访检查的人的视网膜照片进行详细的重新分级。我们将对这些照片进行手动分级（使用立体观察器），并在计算机辅助下测量视网膜小动脉直径和其他体征的变化。通过将我们的分级技术与美国一项大型研究中使用的技术紧密匹配，我们希望为这些体征制定可靠的分级，并将能够在国际上比较我们的研究结果。我们的目的是评估不同年龄组人群中异常视网膜血管变化的频率以及这些体征随时间的发展和进展。他们与众所周知的血管危险因素，如吸烟，血压，肥胖，糖尿病和胆固醇的关系也将被调查。我们希望能够区分那些与中风风险增加相关的变化与正常衰老相关的变化。我们预计，与视网膜血管异常改变相关的中风风险增加可能比我们早期数据显示的更大。如果得到证实，那么这些发现可能会提供比依赖传统风险因素更敏感和客观的中风风险衡量标准，传统风险因素难以量化并随时间变化。我们也许能够制定简单的规则，以便医生使用检眼镜或检查视网膜照片可以识别高风险患者。这些人可以从干预措施中受益，以降低他们的风险。