Are Retinal Arteriolar or Venular Diameters Associated with Markers for Cardiovascular Disorders? The Rotterdam Study

PURPOSE. A lower retinal arteriolar-to-venular ratio (AVR) has been suggested to reflect generalized arteriolar narrowing and to predict the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The contribution of the separate arteriolar and venular diameters to this AVR is unknown. Thus, associations between retinal arteriolar and venular diameters, and the AVR on the one hand and blood pressure, atherosclerosis, inflammation markers, and choles-terol levels on the other were examined in the Rotterdam Study. METHODS. In this cross-sectional population-based study, for one eye of each subject (55 years; n 5674), retinal arterio-lar and venular diameters (in micrometers) of the blood col-umns were summed on digitized images. At baseline blood pressures, cholesterol levels, and markers of atherosclerosis and inflammation were also measured