Correlation of RETINAL Artery Diameter with Coronary Artery Disease: The RETINA CAD Pilot Study-Are the Eyes the Windows to the Heart?

Abstract

This study aimed to determine whether there was any correlation between coronary artery disease (CAD) and retinal artery diameter at an academic tertiary medical center in Trinidad and Tobago. This prospective study evaluated patients (n = 77) with recent invasive coronary angiography (CAG) and the Synergy between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with Taxus and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX) score who subsequently underwent optical coherence tomography-angiography (OCT-A) at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) from January 2021 to March 2021. Routine medical history and cardiovascular medications were also recorded. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and Mann-Whitney U-tests were used to compare correlations and medians between groups. The average patient age was 57.8years old, with the majority being male [n = 55 (71.4%)] and of South Asian ethnicity [n = 53 (68.8%)]. Retinal artery diameter was negatively correlated with the SYNTAX score (-0.332 for the right eye, p=0.003 and -0.237 for the left eye, p=0.038). A statistically significant relationship was also demonstrated in females and diabetic patients. There were no serious adverse events (SAEs). A significantly negative correlation was observed between retinal artery diameter and SYNTAX score. This study alludes to the practical use of optical coherence tomography-angiography (OCT-A) as a noninvasive diagnostic modality for patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Further large-scale, multicentric studies are required to confirm these exploratory findings. NCT04233619.