Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Department of Ophthalmology, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Department of Pediatrics, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Department of Oncology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Microvasc Res. 2025 Jan;157:104752. doi: 10.1016/j.mvr.2024.104752. Epub 2024 Oct 1.
We assessed the predictive efficacy of automatically quantified retinal vascular tortuosity from the fundus pictures of patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) without evident retinopathy.
Retinal images were obtained from 31 healthy and 31 SCD participants using fundus imaging and analyzed using a novel computational automated metric assessment. The local and global vessel tortuosity and their relationship with systemic disease parameters were analyzed based on the images.
SCD arteries had an increased local tortuosity index compared to the controls (0.0007 ± 0.0019 vs. 0.0006 ± 0.0014, p = 0.019). Furthermore, the SCD patients had wider vessel caliber mainly in the arteries (14.68 ± 5.3 vs. 14.06 ± 5.3, p < 0.001). The SCD global tortuosity did not differ significantly from that of the controls (p = 0.598). The female participants had significantly reduced retinal vessel tortuosity indices compared to the male participants (p = 0.018).
Retinal arterial tortuosity and caliber were reliable and objective measures that could be used as a non-invasive prognostic and diagnostic indicator in sickle cell retinopathy. Further studies are required to correlate these local vascular parameters to systemic risk factors and monitor their progression and change over time.
我们评估了从无明显视网膜病变的镰状细胞病（SCD）患者眼底图像中自动量化视网膜血管迂曲度的预测效果。
使用眼底成像技术获得 31 名健康人和 31 名 SCD 参与者的视网膜图像，并使用一种新的计算自动度量评估方法进行分析。根据图像分析局部和全局血管迂曲度及其与系统性疾病参数的关系。
SCD 动脉的局部迂曲度指数高于对照组（0.0007±0.0019 比 0.0006±0.0014，p=0.019）。此外，SCD 患者的血管口径更宽，主要是在动脉中（14.68±5.3 比 14.06±5.3，p<0.001）。SCD 组的全局迂曲度与对照组无显著差异（p=0.598）。与男性参与者相比，女性参与者的视网膜血管迂曲度指数显著降低（p=0.018）。
视网膜动脉迂曲度和口径是可靠和客观的测量指标，可作为镰状细胞性视网膜病变的非侵入性预后和诊断指标。需要进一步研究这些局部血管参数与系统性危险因素的相关性，并监测其随时间的进展和变化。
