Retinal Thickness Correlates with Cerebral Hemodynamic Changes in Patients with Carotid Artery Stenosis

• Published in: Brain sciences Vol. 12; no. 8; p. 979
• Main Authors: Kwapong, William Robert, Liu, Junfeng, Wan, Jincheng, Tao, Wendan, Ye, Chen, Wu, Bo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 25.07.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Age; Alzheimer's disease; Angiography; Blood; Carotid arteries; Carotid artery; carotid artery stenosis; Cataracts; Cerebral blood flow; cerebral hemodynamics; choroid; Computed tomography; computed tomography perfusion; Diabetes; Hemodynamics; Hypertension; Macular degeneration; Magnetic resonance imaging; Medical imaging; Neuroimaging; Perfusion; Permeability; Retina; retinal thickness; Stenosis; Tomography; Veins & arteries; China; choroid; retinal thickness; computed tomography perfusion; carotid artery stenosis; cerebral hemodynamics
• ISSN: 2076-3425; 2076-3425
• DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12080979

Background: We aimed to assess the retinal structural and choroidal changes in carotid artery stenosis (CAS) patients and their association with cerebral hemodynamic changes. Asymptomatic and symptomatic patients with unilateral CAS were enrolled in our study. Material and methods: Swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) was used to image the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL), while SS-OCT angiography (SS-OCTA) was used to image and measure the choroidal vascular volume (CVV) and choroidal vascular index (CVI). Computed Tomography Perfusion (CTP) was used to assess the cerebral perfusion parameters; relative perfusion (r) was calculated as the ratio of the value on the contralateral side to that on the ipsilateral side. Results: Compared with contralateral eyes, ipsilateral eyes showed significantly thinner RNFL (p < 0.001), GCIPL (p = 0.013) and CVV (p = 0.001). Relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) showed a significant correlation with RNFL (p < 0.001), GCIPL (p < 0.001) and CVI (p = 0.027), while the relative permeability surface (rPS) correlated with RNFL (p < 0.001) and GCIPL (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our report suggests that retinal and choroidal changes have the potential to detect hemodynamic changes in CAS patients and could predict the risk of stroke.