Open AccessRegression of Alterations in Retinal Microcirculation Following Treatment for Arterial Hypertension
Author(s) -
PoseReino Antonio,
RodríguezFernández Marta,
Hayik Bashir,
GomezUlla Francisco,
José CarreraNouche María,
GudeSampedro Francisco,
EstévezNuñez Juan Carlos,
MéndezNaya Isabel
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the journal of clinical hypertension
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1751-7176
pISSN - 1524-6175
DOI - 10.1111/j.1524-6175.2006.05476.x
Subject(s) - medicine , retinal , microcirculation , losartan , arteriole , hydrochlorothiazide , ophthalmology , cardiology , blood pressure , angiotensin ii
Evaluation of early hypertension‐related alterations in retinal microcirculation has been subjective and poorly reproducible. The authors recently described a semiautomatic computerized system for evaluation of the calibre of retinal blood vessels that has shown very good reproducibility. In the study, this system was used to measure the calibres of retinal arterioles and veins, and their ratio, in a group of 51 hypertensive outpatients before and after 6 months of treatment with losartan or, if required for satisfactory blood pressure control, losartan plus hydrochlorothiazide. Mean retinal arteriole diameter increased from 0.0842±0.003 mm to 0.0847±0.003 mm ( p= 0.001). Arteriovenous ratio increased from 0.753±0.03 to 0.756±0.03 ( p= 0.005). This observation suggests regression of early hypertension‐related alterations in retinal microcirculation after 6 months of antihypertensive treatment.