Retinal changes in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies: A case-control study in the MyoCite cohort

Retinal changes are the window to systemic vasculature. Therefore, we explored retinal changes in patients with Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) as a surrogate for vascular health. Adult and Juvenile IIM patients (2017 ACR/EULAR criteria), visiting a tertiary care center in 2021 were enrolled for detailed ophthalmic examination in comparison with healthy controls (HC). Patients with conditions that precluded thorough posterior chamber examination were excluded. Scale variables are expressed as median (IQR). Multivariate analysis (binary logistic regression-BLR) was conducted, adjusting for age, gender, and comorbidities besides factors significant in univariate analysis. 43 patients with IIM [31 females; age 36 (23-45) years; disease duration 5.5 (2-12) months] were enrolled for participation. DM (44%) was the most common diagnosis. IIM patients exhibited frequent attenuation of retinal vessels (32.6 vs. 4.3%, < 0.001), AV nicking (14 vs. 2.2%, = 0.053), and vascular tortuosity (18.6 vs. 2.2% = 0.012), besides decreased visual acuity (53.5 vs. 10.9%, p