Lower Retinal Arteriolar Density Is Associated With Higher Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Burden: An Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Study.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

It is suggested that cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) plays a role in strokes and dementia. Retinal microvasculature imaged by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is suggested to be associated with cerebral microvessels. We measured the density of the retinal arterioles and venules on the superficial vascular complex (SVC) of OCTA images and investigated associations with SVD markers in older adults.

Methods

Participants underwent cerebral magnetic resonance imaging and OCTA imaging. An external algorithm (OCTA-Net) was used to segment the retinal vessels into arterioles and venules. SVD indicators [lacunes, white matter hyperintensity (WMH), perivascular spaces (PVS) and cerebral microbleeds (CMBs)] were determined according to the STandards for

SUBMITTER: Cao L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11830995 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature