Relationship Between Short-Term Blood Pressure Variability and Choroidal-Retinal Thicknesses Assessed by Optical Coherence Tomography in Hypertensive Subjects.

The complications of hypertension depend not only on the mean blood pressure (BP) but also on its variability (BPV). Recent studies suggest that the choroid may serve as an indicator of systemic vascular damage. These studies have been made possible by the increased availability of optical coherence tomography (OCT). The aim of our study was to analyze the relationship between short-term BP variability (STBPV) and choroid-retinal thickness in hypertensive patients. A total of 98 patients with a mean age of 49 ± 12 years were enrolled in the study. All participants underwent 24 h blood pressure (BP) monitoring to measure 24 h mean systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), along with their respective standard deviations (SD), the weighted SD of 24 h SBP and DBP, and the average real variability (ARV) of 24 h SBP and DBP. The choroid-retinal region was assessed using Swept-Source OCT, with choroidal thickness (ChT) and retinal thickness divided into three concentric rings, and their mean choroidal thickness (ChT-or) was calculated. The choroidal thickness of the concentric rings was found to be inversely correlated with all ARV values of the monitored blood pressure means. In particular, a correlation was observed between the ARV of daytime DBP and ChT-or. This correlation remained statistically significant (β = -0.34; = 0.02) even after adjustment for various confounding factors. The ARV of daytime DBP was the only STBPV index to maintain a significant association, in the multivariate analysis, with the central ring mean thickness (β = -0.314; = 0.001) and the inner choroidal ring mean thickness (β = -0.262; = 0.003). Our study demonstrated an independent negative association between short-term BP variability (STBPV), when expressed as ARV of daytime DBP, and choroidal thickness. This finding confirms the value of choroidal thickness as a marker of cardiovascular risk.