title: Impact of combined hormonal contraceptives on vessels functionality.
abstract: To evaluate the dynamic and static retinal vascular functionality in young females using combined hormonal contraceptive (CHC).
  
  
  
  Thirty-eight consecutive young female subjects were enrolled in this study between January 2015 and December 2015. Subjects were divided in two groups: CHC group, defined as CHC use for ≥6 months, and control group, defined as no current and prior CHC use. Participants underwent a dynamic and static retinal vessel analysis using the Dynamic Vessel Analyzer (DVA, Imedos, Jena, Germany).
  
  
  
  Seventeen subjects continuously took CHC for 54.6 ± 29.3 months, while 21 subjects belonged to control group. No difference was found between the CHC and control groups for age (p = 0.1), smoking status (p = 0.6), and systolic (p = 0.3) and diastolic (p = 0.1) blood pressure. With regard to dynamic analysis, women taking CHC exhibited a marked significant vasoconstriction following flicker stimulation in comparison with control group (-2.43 ± 2.5 vs 0.63 ± 2.1, respectively; p = 0.0002). No significant difference was observed between groups for mean arterial (p = 0.2) and venous dilatations (p = 0.3), arteriovenous ratio (p = 0.09), central retinal artery equivalent (p = 0.4), and central retinal venous equivalent (p = 0.5).
  
  
  
  CHC may affect vessel reactivity to flicker light by increasing arteries constriction. This may reflect systemic changes in vascular functionality in subjects using CHC. Moreover, CHC should be considered as a confounding bias in studies involving DVA.
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, University Vita-Salute, IRCCS San Raffaele, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 60, Milan, 20132, Italy.
authors: Alessandro
authors: A
authors: Rabiolo
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, University Vita-Salute, IRCCS San Raffaele, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 60, Milan, 20132, Italy.
authors: Federico
authors: F
authors: Corvi
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, University Vita-Salute, IRCCS San Raffaele, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 60, Milan, 20132, Italy.
authors: Davide
authors: D
authors: Monteduro
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, University Vita-Salute, IRCCS San Raffaele, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 60, Milan, 20132, Italy.
authors: Lucia
authors: L
authors: Benatti
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, University Vita-Salute, IRCCS San Raffaele, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 60, Milan, 20132, Italy.
authors: Maria Vittoria
authors: MV
authors: Cicinelli
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, University Vita-Salute, IRCCS San Raffaele, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 60, Milan, 20132, Italy.
authors: Giovanni
authors: G
authors: Fogliato
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, University Vita-Salute, IRCCS San Raffaele, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 60, Milan, 20132, Italy. giuseppe.querques@hotmail.it.
authors: Giuseppe
authors: G
authors: Querques
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, University Vita-Salute, IRCCS San Raffaele, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 60, Milan, 20132, Italy.
authors: Francesco
authors: F
authors: Bandello
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D003277:Contraceptives, Oral, Combined / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003278:Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D014661:Vasoconstriction / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D003277:Contraceptives, Oral, Combined; D003278:Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal
keywords: Combined hormonal contraceptive; Dynamic vessel analyzer; Flicker light; Oral contraceptive pill; Retinal vessel analysis; Static vessel analysis