Evaluation of arterial stiffness in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion

PURPOSE: To assess the arterial stiffness in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). METHODS: Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (PWV) and ankle-brachial index were measured in 10 patients with BRVO (mean age 67.9 +/- 7.5 years) and in 18 age-matched controls (mean age 66.9 +/- 6.8 years). The controls were subjects with systemic essential hypertension having no retinal lesions. RESULTS: The PWV in the BRVO group was 1,946 +/- 254 cm/s which was significantly higher than that in the control group (1,688 +/- 274 cm/s; p = 0.014, Wilcoxon rank sum test). The ankle-brachial indexes were 1.16 and 1.15 in BRVO and control groups, respectively. There was no significant difference between the groups (p = 0.944). In the control group, there was a significant positive correlation between PWV and systolic blood pressure (Spearman correlation coefficient r(s) = 0.385, p = 0.043), while no significant correlation was found in the BRVO group (Spearman correlation coefficient r(s) = -0.188, p = 0.603). CONCLUSION: The arterial stiffness is increased in patients with BRVO which was thought to be due to the structural changes of the artery and not dependent on the blood pressure.