Women with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) may have a narrower central retinal artery equivalent (CRAE) and lower arteriole-to-venule ratio (AVR) than healthy women, according to findings published in Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy.

Researchers enrolled women with IDA (n=28) and age-matched healthy controls (n=28) in a study and performed a detailed ophthalmic examination on all participants including anterior segment analysis, dilated fundus imaging, and intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement.

Participant serum hemoglobin levels were 8.48±1.11 and 12.38±1.71 g/dL, iron levels were 18.90±7.87 and 93.10±31.40 μg/dL, transferrin saturation was 4.25±1.83 and 35.80±12.40%, and ferritin levels were 3.50±2.18 and 117.60±51.82 μg/dL (P <.001 for all) among the IDA and control groups, respectively.

Researchers noted that patients with IDA had a significantly narrower CRAE and lower AVR compared with healthy controls. (185.2±20.6 vs 202.1±18.6 μm and .789±0.08 vs .870±0.09, respectively, P <.001 for both). However, they observed no significant differences with respect to the central retinal vein equivalent between the groups ( 236.7±33.1 vs 231.9±25.3 μm; P =.054).

Investigators also found that serum hemoglobin levels were associated with CRAE (R²=0.323; P =.005) and central retinal vein equivalent (R²=0.374; P =.002) among the IDA cohort. They observed no such association between hemoglobin and arteriole-to-venule ratio (R², 0.041; P =.626).

Reference

Calli U, Coban F, Evliyaoglu F, Sönmez A. Retinal vascular caliber in patients with newly diagnosed iron deficiency anemia. Photodiagnosis Photodyn Ther. 2022;38:102751. doi:10.1016/j.pdpdt.2022.102751

Women With Anemia Have Reduced Retinal Vasculature Parameters

Reference

Want to read more?