Changes in retina's vascular and nervous structures in patients with hypertension

Abstract

Introduction: This study aims to analyze the correlation between hypertension (HTN) and changes in the retina's vascular and nervous structures in patients with hypertension.Method: This was a cross-sectional study, which included a group of 45 subjects who did not suffer from hypertension (HTN) (Group 1), other two groups of 51 patients with controlled (Group 2) and not controlled (Group 3) HTN. Changes in vascular and nervous structures were identified and evaluated by ophthalmoscopy and OCT, respectively. Parametric and non-parametric tests, Post-hoc, Pearson, and Spearman correlation were used, with p<0.05 considered statistically significant.Results: We observed hypertensive retinopathy (HTNR G I and II) in both groups with HTN, with a significant difference (p=0.023). We found a lower average retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), the average and minimum ganglion cell complex (GCC) in the patients of groups 2 and 3 than those of group 1. We found a negative and slight correlation between systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and HTNR with superior GCC thickness in hypertensive patients.Conclusions: hypertension correlated to changes in the retina's vascular and nervous structures, and the nervous structure alterations were not visible by ophthalmoscopy but detected by OCT.