Department of Ophthalmology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, 95 Yong'an Road, Xicheng District, Beijing, 100050, China.
J Transl Med. 2023 Feb 1;21(1):65. doi: 10.1186/s12967-023-03908-y.
Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is a systemic disease, affecting not only the brain, but also eyes and other organs. The total CSVD score is a tool for comprehensive evaluation of brain lesions in patients with CSVD. The ophthalmic artery (OA) is a direct response to ocular blood flow. However, little is known about the correlation between CSVD and characteristics of OA. We investigated the OA morphologies and hemodynamics in patients with CSVD and the correlation between these changes and the total CSVD score.
This cross-sectional observational study included 34 eyes from 22 patients with CSVD and 10 eyes from 5 healthy controls. The total CSVD score was rated according to the CSVD signs on magnetic resonance imaging. OA morphological characteristics were measured on the basis of 3D OA model reconstruction. OA hemodynamic information was calculated using computational fluid dynamics simulations.
The total CSVD score negatively correlated with the OA diameter, blood flow velocity, and mass flow ratio (all P < 0.05). After adjusting for potential confounding factors, the total CSVD score was still independently correlated with the OA blood velocity (β = - 0.202, P = 0.005). The total CSVD score was not correlated with OA angle (P > 0.05). The presence of cerebral microbleeds and enlarged perivascular spaces was correlated with the OA diameter (both P < 0.01), while the lacunar infarcts and white matter hyperintensities were correlated with the OA blood velocity (both P < 0.001).
The decrease of the blood velocity in the OA was associated with the increase in the total CSVD score. The changes of the OA diameter and velocity were associated with the presence of various CSVD signs. The findings suggest that more studies are needed in the future to evaluate CSVD by observing the morphologies and hemodynamics of OA.
脑小血管病（CSVD）是一种系统性疾病，不仅影响大脑，还影响眼睛和其他器官。CSVD 总评分是综合评估 CSVD 患者脑损伤的工具。眼动脉（OA）是眼部血流的直接反应。然而，对于 CSVD 与 OA 特征之间的相关性知之甚少。我们研究了 CSVD 患者的 OA 形态和血流动力学以及这些变化与总 CSVD 评分之间的相关性。
本横断面观察性研究纳入了 22 例 CSVD 患者的 34 只眼和 5 例健康对照者的 10 只眼。根据磁共振成像上的 CSVD 征象对总 CSVD 评分进行评分。基于 3D OA 模型重建测量 OA 形态特征。使用计算流体动力学模拟计算 OA 血流动力学信息。
总 CSVD 评分与 OA 直径、血流速度和质量流量比呈负相关（均 P<0.05）。调整潜在混杂因素后，总 CSVD 评分仍与 OA 血流速度独立相关（β=-0.202，P=0.005）。总 CSVD 评分与 OA 角度无相关性（P>0.05）。脑微出血和扩大的血管周围间隙的存在与 OA 直径相关（均 P<0.01），而腔隙性梗死和脑白质高信号与 OA 血流速度相关（均 P<0.001）。
OA 血流速度的降低与总 CSVD 评分的增加有关。OA 直径和速度的变化与各种 CSVD 征象的存在有关。这些发现表明，未来需要更多的研究通过观察 OA 的形态和血流动力学来评估 CSVD。
