Cardiovascular diseases and the eye

Abstract:

The blood vessels of the eye and the heart have some common characteristics and by observing blood vessels in the eye one has an indirect wiew into the heart. There is an interaction between cardiovascular functions and risk factors, and the occurrence and progression of many ophthalmic diseases. In particular, vascular changes noticed in the eye (such as narrowing of retinal arteries, dilatation of retinal veins, pronounced arteriovenous nicking or retinal bleeding) may indicate the signs of increased cardiovascular risk. In addition to such morphological alterations, functional changes such as fluctuations in intraocular pressure and blood flow through the eye may be even more significant and play an important role in further diagnostics. Risk factors for arteriosclerosis, such as dyslipidemia, diabetes or systemic hypertension are also risk factors for ocular diseases such as retinal artery or retinal vein occlusion, cataract, senile macular degeneration and increased intraocular pressure.

Key words:
glaucoma; hypertension; hypertensive retinopathy; retinal vascular occlusion; senile macular degeneration