title: The impact of hypertension on retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and its association with carotid intima media thickness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to investigate retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in hypertensive patients using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and to evaluate the relationship between RNFL thickness and carotid intima media thickness (CIMT).
  
  
  METHODS
  This study included 59 patients with hypertension (HT) (53.6 ± 10.7 years) and 54 age-matched healthy controls (51.0 ± 8.1 years). We evaluated anthropometric and metabolic parameters as well as RNFL and CIMT measurements in patients with hypertension and controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average RNFL thickness was 86.60 ± 10.86 μm in hypertensive patients and 93.63 ± 7.30 μm in healthy controls (p < 0.001). Selective thinning of the RNFL was found in the superior and inferior quadrants. Mean CIMT values were higher in patients with HT (0.80 ± 0.15 mm) than the healthy subjects (0.71 ± 0.1 mm) (p < 0.001). The average, inferior and nasal RNFL thickness were negatively associated with diastolic blood pressure respectively (r = - 0.112, r = - 0.210, r = - 0.225). There was an inverse correlation between RNFL thickness in the average and superior retinal quadrant and CIMT (r = - 0.201, r = - 0.185). There were no correlations between RNFL thickness and age, body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, lipid parameters, high-sensitive C-reactive protein and microalbuminuria.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  RNFL thickness is reduced in hypertensive patients and may be associated with atherosclerosis.
authors: Department of Nephrology, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University Medical School , Rize , Turkey.
authors: Osman Z
authors: OZ
authors: Sahin
authors: Serap B
authors: SB
authors: Sahin
authors: Teslime
authors: T
authors: Ayaz
authors: Zakir
authors: Z
authors: Karadag
authors: Kemal
authors: K
authors: Turkyilmaz
authors: Ezgi
authors: E
authors: Aktas
authors: Mehmet
authors: M
authors: Bostan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology*; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: Carotid intima media thickness; hypertension; retinal fiber layer thickness