Retinal Vessel Traits and the Risk of Stroke: The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology and Neurology
• Cerebrovascular Health Assessment

Background:

• Retinal vascular changes can indicate cerebrovascular health.
• Previous studies on retinal vessels and stroke primarily focused on diameter, with inconsistent findings for vessel area and tortuosity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the longitudinal associations between retinal vessel traits (area, tortuosity) and incident stroke.
• To explore the role of underinvestigated retinal vessel metrics in stroke risk prediction.

Main Methods:

• Utilized deep learning (Quantitative Analysis of Retinal Vessel Topology and Size) on retinal images from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging Comprehensive Cohort (n=30,097).
• Extracted arteriolar and venular diameter, area, and tortuosity.
• Employed logistic regression, adjusting for confounders and assessing interactions with sex.

Main Results:

• Wider arterioles correlated with lower stroke odds (OR=0.84).
• Larger venular area was associated with higher stroke odds (OR=1.71), while larger arteriolar area showed inverse association (OR=0.62).
• Significant interactions between sex and arteriolar/venular tortuosity were observed.

Conclusions:

• Confirms associations between retinal vessel area and stroke risk.
• Retinal vessel area and arteriolar width show potential for future stroke prediction models.