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Hypertensive Retinopathy and Risk of Serious Cardiovascular Events: Five Years Prospective Cohort Study in Primary Care

Received: 22 January 2022     Accepted: 8 February 2022     Published: 25 February 2022
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Abstract

Introduction: Poorly controlled hypertension causes damage to the retinal microcirculation, which is predictive and associated to risk of stroke. Studies have shown that retinal microvascular changes can be reliably documented by retinal photographs. This study aims at examine the associative risk and incident of hypertensive retinopathy related serious cardiovascular events in primary care. Methodology: This is a prospective cohort study involving hypertensive patients in one regional primary care clinic of Hong Kong. Eligible digital retinal photographs of hypertensive patients done in the period Jan 1, 2011 to Dec 31, 2012 were graded based on Wong & Mitchell criteria. Consecutive subjects with hypertensive retinopathy (HTR) and without HTR (Non-HTR) were allocated to cohort and control group respectively until ceiling of 138. All patients will be followed prospectively for five years to exam the incidence of serious cardiovascular events. The relative risk of hypertensive retinopathy related serious cardiovascular events were investigated. Results: The cohort group patients are younger (mean age 57.3 versus 61.0, P<0.01), and have higher proportion of comorbid hyperlipidaemia (P=0.02). There are no statistical difference in sex, smoking status, duration of hypertension (HT), number of anti-hypertensive medication taking and mean blood pressure. At five year, both groups have no cardiovascular related mortality. Cohort group has 13 events of cardiovascular disease (incidence rate 9.42%), while control group has 5 events (incidence rate 3.62%). The five year realative risk (RR) of HTR for serious cardiovascular events is 2.77 (95% CI: 0.96-7.98, P=0.051), while five year RR of HTR for stroke is 9.56 (95% CI 1.19-76.5, P=0.010). With logistic regression analyasis, HTR is independent risk factor for stroke, with RR 8.55 (p=0.047). Conclusion: Hypertensive retinopathy is the independent predictive risk factor for stroke. The sensitivity and specificity of HT patients with HTR in predicting stroke in 5 years is 90.0% and 51.5% respectively.

Published in Journal of Family Medicine and Health Care (Volume 8, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.jfmhc.20220801.14
Page(s) 25-31
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Hypertensive Retinopathy, Cardiovascular Disease, Stroke

References
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[8] Wong TY, Klein R, Sharrett AR, Couper DJ, Klein BEK, Liao DP, Hubbard LD, Mosley TH. Atherosclerosis risk in community study. Cerebral white matter lesions, retinopathy, and incident clinical stroke. JAMA. 2002; 288: 67-74.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Lapkin Chiang, Lorna Ventura Ng, Catherine Xiaorui Chen, Yimchu Li. (2022). Hypertensive Retinopathy and Risk of Serious Cardiovascular Events: Five Years Prospective Cohort Study in Primary Care. Journal of Family Medicine and Health Care, 8(1), 25-31. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfmhc.20220801.14

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    ACS Style

    Lapkin Chiang; Lorna Ventura Ng; Catherine Xiaorui Chen; Yimchu Li. Hypertensive Retinopathy and Risk of Serious Cardiovascular Events: Five Years Prospective Cohort Study in Primary Care. J. Fam. Med. Health Care 2022, 8(1), 25-31. doi: 10.11648/j.jfmhc.20220801.14

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    AMA Style

    Lapkin Chiang, Lorna Ventura Ng, Catherine Xiaorui Chen, Yimchu Li. Hypertensive Retinopathy and Risk of Serious Cardiovascular Events: Five Years Prospective Cohort Study in Primary Care. J Fam Med Health Care. 2022;8(1):25-31. doi: 10.11648/j.jfmhc.20220801.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jfmhc.20220801.14,
      author = {Lapkin Chiang and Lorna Ventura Ng and Catherine Xiaorui Chen and Yimchu Li},
      title = {Hypertensive Retinopathy and Risk of Serious Cardiovascular Events: Five Years Prospective Cohort Study in Primary Care},
      journal = {Journal of Family Medicine and Health Care},
      volume = {8},
      number = {1},
      pages = {25-31},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jfmhc.20220801.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfmhc.20220801.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jfmhc.20220801.14},
      abstract = {Introduction: Poorly controlled hypertension causes damage to the retinal microcirculation, which is predictive and associated to risk of stroke. Studies have shown that retinal microvascular changes can be reliably documented by retinal photographs. This study aims at examine the associative risk and incident of hypertensive retinopathy related serious cardiovascular events in primary care. Methodology: This is a prospective cohort study involving hypertensive patients in one regional primary care clinic of Hong Kong. Eligible digital retinal photographs of hypertensive patients done in the period Jan 1, 2011 to Dec 31, 2012 were graded based on Wong & Mitchell criteria. Consecutive subjects with hypertensive retinopathy (HTR) and without HTR (Non-HTR) were allocated to cohort and control group respectively until ceiling of 138. All patients will be followed prospectively for five years to exam the incidence of serious cardiovascular events. The relative risk of hypertensive retinopathy related serious cardiovascular events were investigated. Results: The cohort group patients are younger (mean age 57.3 versus 61.0, P<0.01), and have higher proportion of comorbid hyperlipidaemia (P=0.02). There are no statistical difference in sex, smoking status, duration of hypertension (HT), number of anti-hypertensive medication taking and mean blood pressure. At five year, both groups have no cardiovascular related mortality. Cohort group has 13 events of cardiovascular disease (incidence rate 9.42%), while control group has 5 events (incidence rate 3.62%). The five year realative risk (RR) of HTR for serious cardiovascular events is 2.77 (95% CI: 0.96-7.98, P=0.051), while five year RR of HTR for stroke is 9.56 (95% CI 1.19-76.5, P=0.010). With logistic regression analyasis, HTR is independent risk factor for stroke, with RR 8.55 (p=0.047). Conclusion: Hypertensive retinopathy is the independent predictive risk factor for stroke. The sensitivity and specificity of HT patients with HTR in predicting stroke in 5 years is 90.0% and 51.5% respectively.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Hypertensive Retinopathy and Risk of Serious Cardiovascular Events: Five Years Prospective Cohort Study in Primary Care
    AU  - Lapkin Chiang
    AU  - Lorna Ventura Ng
    AU  - Catherine Xiaorui Chen
    AU  - Yimchu Li
    Y1  - 2022/02/25
    PY  - 2022
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfmhc.20220801.14
    DO  - 10.11648/j.jfmhc.20220801.14
    T2  - Journal of Family Medicine and Health Care
    JF  - Journal of Family Medicine and Health Care
    JO  - Journal of Family Medicine and Health Care
    SP  - 25
    EP  - 31
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2469-8342
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfmhc.20220801.14
    AB  - Introduction: Poorly controlled hypertension causes damage to the retinal microcirculation, which is predictive and associated to risk of stroke. Studies have shown that retinal microvascular changes can be reliably documented by retinal photographs. This study aims at examine the associative risk and incident of hypertensive retinopathy related serious cardiovascular events in primary care. Methodology: This is a prospective cohort study involving hypertensive patients in one regional primary care clinic of Hong Kong. Eligible digital retinal photographs of hypertensive patients done in the period Jan 1, 2011 to Dec 31, 2012 were graded based on Wong & Mitchell criteria. Consecutive subjects with hypertensive retinopathy (HTR) and without HTR (Non-HTR) were allocated to cohort and control group respectively until ceiling of 138. All patients will be followed prospectively for five years to exam the incidence of serious cardiovascular events. The relative risk of hypertensive retinopathy related serious cardiovascular events were investigated. Results: The cohort group patients are younger (mean age 57.3 versus 61.0, P<0.01), and have higher proportion of comorbid hyperlipidaemia (P=0.02). There are no statistical difference in sex, smoking status, duration of hypertension (HT), number of anti-hypertensive medication taking and mean blood pressure. At five year, both groups have no cardiovascular related mortality. Cohort group has 13 events of cardiovascular disease (incidence rate 9.42%), while control group has 5 events (incidence rate 3.62%). The five year realative risk (RR) of HTR for serious cardiovascular events is 2.77 (95% CI: 0.96-7.98, P=0.051), while five year RR of HTR for stroke is 9.56 (95% CI 1.19-76.5, P=0.010). With logistic regression analyasis, HTR is independent risk factor for stroke, with RR 8.55 (p=0.047). Conclusion: Hypertensive retinopathy is the independent predictive risk factor for stroke. The sensitivity and specificity of HT patients with HTR in predicting stroke in 5 years is 90.0% and 51.5% respectively.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Family Medicine and General Outpatient Clinics, Kowloon Central Cluster, Hospital Authority, Hong Kong

  • Department of Family Medicine and General Outpatient Clinics, Kowloon Central Cluster, Hospital Authority, Hong Kong

  • Department of Family Medicine and General Outpatient Clinics, Kowloon Central Cluster, Hospital Authority, Hong Kong

  • Department of Family Medicine and General Outpatient Clinics, Kowloon Central Cluster, Hospital Authority, Hong Kong

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