Weerts Jerremy, Raafs Anne G, Sandhoefner Birgit, van der Heide Frank C T, Mourmans Sanne G J, Wolff Nicolas, Finger Robert P, Falahat Peyman, Wintergerst Maximilian W M, van Empel Vanessa P M, Heymans Stephane R B
Department of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), Maastricht University Medical Centre+ (MUMC+), P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Carl ZEISS Meditec Inc., 5300 Central Parkway, Dublin, CA 94568, USA.
J Clin Med. 2024 Mar 25;13(7):1892. doi: 10.3390/jcm13071892.
Systemic microvascular regression and dysfunction are considered important underlying mechanisms in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), but retinal changes are unknown. This prospective study aimed to investigate whether retinal microvascular and structural parameters assessed using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) differ between patients with HFpEF and control individuals (i.e., capillary vessel density, thickness of retina layers). We also aimed to assess the associations of retinal parameters with clinical and echocardiographic parameters in HFpEF. HFpEF patients, but not controls, underwent echocardiography. Macula-centered 6 × 6 mm volume scans were computed of both eyes. Twenty-two HFpEF patients and 24 controls without known HFpEF were evaluated, with an age of 74 [68-80] vs. 68 [58-77] years ( = 0.027), and 73% vs. 42% females ( = 0.034), respectively. HFpEF patients showed vascular degeneration compared to controls, depicted by lower macular vessel density ( < 0.001) and macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness ( = 0.025), and a trend towards lower total retinal volume ( = 0.050) on OCT-A. In HFpEF, a lower total retinal volume was associated with markers of diastolic dysfunction (septal e', septal and average E/e': = 0.38, 0.36, 0.25, respectively; all < 0.05), even after adjustment for age, sex, diabetes mellitus, or atrial fibrillation. Patients with HFpEF showed clear levels of retinal vascular changes compared to control individuals, and retinal alterations appeared to be associated with markers of more severe diastolic dysfunction in HFpEF. OCT-A may therefore be a promising technique for monitoring systemic microvascular regression and cardiac diastolic dysfunction.
系统性微血管消退和功能障碍被认为是射血分数保留的心力衰竭(HFpEF)的重要潜在机制,但视网膜变化尚不清楚。这项前瞻性研究旨在调查使用光学相干断层扫描血管造影(OCT-A)评估的视网膜微血管和结构参数在HFpEF患者和对照个体(即毛细血管密度、视网膜层厚度)之间是否存在差异。我们还旨在评估视网膜参数与HFpEF患者临床和超声心动图参数之间的关联。HFpEF患者接受了超声心动图检查,而对照个体未接受。对双眼进行了以黄斑为中心的6×6mm体积扫描。评估了22例HFpEF患者和24例无已知HFpEF的对照个体,年龄分别为74[68-80]岁和68[58-77]岁(P=0.027),女性分别为73%和42%(P=0.034)。与对照个体相比,HFpEF患者表现出血管退变,OCT-A显示黄斑血管密度较低(P<0.001)、黄斑神经节细胞-内丛状层厚度较低(P=0.025),以及总视网膜体积有降低趋势(P=0.050)。在HFpEF中,即使在调整年龄、性别、糖尿病或心房颤动后,较低的总视网膜体积仍与舒张功能障碍标志物相关(室间隔e'、室间隔和平均E/e':P分别为0.38、0.36、0.25;均P<0.05)。与对照个体相比,HFpEF患者表现出明显的视网膜血管变化水平,并且视网膜改变似乎与HFpEF中更严重舒张功能障碍的标志物相关。因此,OCT-A可能是监测系统性微血管消退和心脏舒张功能障碍的一种有前景的技术。