In patients with hypertension, even well controlled hypertension, hypertensive retinopathy is associated with an increased long-term risk for stroke, independent of vascular risk factors, new research shows.
“These findings suggest that a retinal examination may be valuable for the assessment of stroke risk in patients with hypertension,” the study team says.
“However, at this stage it is too early to recommend changes in clinical practice,” study leader Mohammad Kamran Ikram, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Singapore Eye Research Institute, Department of Ophthalmology and Memory Aging & Cognition Centre (MACC), National University of Singapore, cautioned.
“Other studies need to confirm our findings and show that retinal imaging provides additional information on stroke risk in persons with a high blood pressure,” he told Medscape Medical News.
The study was published online August 12 in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension.
