title: Association of dilated retinal arteriolar caliber with early age-related macular degeneration: the Handan Eye Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To identify factors associated with early age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a rural Chinese population, with emphasis on retinal vessel caliber.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population comprised the 6,830 participants of the Handan Eye Study. All participants underwent digital retinal photography of both eyes. Trained graders assessed the presence of AMD lesions. Arteriolar and venular diameters were measured with a specific computer-assisted program and were summarized as the central retinal arteriolar equivalent (CRAE) and central retinal venular equivalent (CRVE).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The data for the 199 individuals with evaluable retinal photographs and early AMD and 400 age-matched individuals randomly selected from the group without AMD were analyzed. After adjusting for participants' age, sex, smoking status, hypertension, diabetes, BMI, and CRVE, the multivariate adjusted model showed that a higher CRAE was significantly associated with early AMD (OR = 1.34; 95% CI: 1.05-1.71; p = 0.020) and the presence of soft distinct drusen (OR = 1.32 (95% CI: 1.02-1.71, p = 0.037). There were no significant associations between CRVE and early AMD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dilated retinal arteriolar caliber is associated with early AMD and soft distinct drusen in this population. We found no significant associations between CRAE and other characteristics of the retina related to AMD or between retinal venal caliber and early AMD. More research is needed to determine whether the difference between these results and those previously published stem from the rural living conditions of the participants or other factors.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Ophthalmology & Visual Science Key Lab, No. 1 Dongjiao Min Xiang, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Si Yan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.forename: Yuan Bo
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Xinrong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Fenghua
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tien Yin
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Lan Ping
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Ning-Li
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D001160:Arterioles / Q000473:pathology; D044466:Asian People; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001824:Body Constitution; D004108:Dilatation, Pathologic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010781:Photography; D012161:Retinal Artery / Q000473:pathology*; D015593:Retinal Drusen / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D012907:Smoking