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Carotid artery intimal medial thickness and carotid artery plaques in hypertensive patients with non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy

  • Neurophthalmology
  • Published:
Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To assess the correlation of carotid artery intimal medial thickness (C-IMT) and carotid artery plaque score (CPS) of the common carotid artery with non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) in hypertensive patients.

Methods

This case-control study recruited 192 subjects. Forty-eight patients had NAION with systemic hypertension, 46 had hypertension without visual complaints, and 98 were normal controls. C-IMT and common carotid arterial plaque were measured by high-resolution vascular ultrasonography.

Results

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) in patients with NAION (1.24 ± 0.31) was significantly lower than that of the Hypertensive group (1.39 ± 0.30, P = 0.034). The C-IMT in the affected side of patients with NAION (1.00 ± 0.23) was significantly increased compared to the unaffected side (0.83 ± 0.19, P < 0.001), the Hypertensive group (0.83 ± 0.17, P < 0.001), and the Normal group (0.69 ± 0.16, P < 0.001). The presence of carotid artery plaque was more frequent in the patients with NAION, compared to either the Hypertensive group (P = 0.001) or the Normal group (P < 0.001). By multiple regression analysis, lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) (P = 0.009), thicker C-IMT (P = 0.002), CPS Grade = 1 (P = 0.028), and Grade = 2 (P = 0.005) were associated with increased NAION risk, when the NAION group compared with the Hypertensive group (OR > 1.0). Systolic blood pressure (P = 0.001), thicker C-IMT (P < 0.001), CPS Grade = 1 (P = 0.006), Grade = 2 (P = 0.002), and Grade = 3 (P = 0.015) were associated with increased NAION risk, when the NAION group compared with the Normal group (OR > 1.0).

Conclusions

C-IMT and CPS were associated with NAION in hypertensive patients, suggesting that NAION might be associated with carotid artery atherosclerosis. This association may be due to similar pathological changes of the inner vascular walls in the carotid artery and the arteries supplying the optic nerve head.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, 54 S. Xianlie Road, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China, 510060

    Wenhui Zhu, Tingting Chen, Ling Jin, Congyao Wang & Nathan Congdon

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China

    Wenhui Zhu, Tingting Chen & Qi Wang

  3. School of Medicine, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK

    Haoyu Wang

  4. Department of Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China

    Fengjuan Yao

  5. Centre for Public Health, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, BT12 6BJ, UK

    Nathan Congdon

Authors
  1. Wenhui Zhu
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  2. Tingting Chen
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  3. Ling Jin
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  4. Haoyu Wang
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  5. Fengjuan Yao
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  6. Congyao Wang
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  7. Qi Wang
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  8. Nathan Congdon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nathan Congdon.

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Funding

Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province provided financial support in the form of 2014A020212578 funding. The sponsor had no role in the design or conduct of this research.

Conflict of interest

All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest, and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Wenhui Zhu and Tingting Chen are Co-first authors

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Zhu, W., Chen, T., Jin, L. et al. Carotid artery intimal medial thickness and carotid artery plaques in hypertensive patients with non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 255, 2037–2043 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-017-3744-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-017-3744-4

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