Asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness. A community-based, observational study

To examine whether an abnormally thin retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) is associated with cerebrovascular insufficiency. Community-based study. The Asymptomatic Polyvascular Abnormalities in Community Study included Chinese aged 40+ years and without histories of cerebrovascular incidents or coronary heart disease. Using transcranial Doppler and carotid duplex ultrasound examination, we assessed presence and degree of an intracranial arterial stenosis (ICAS) and extracranial carotid arterial stenosis (ECAS) and we measured the RNFL thickness by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. The study included 3,376 participants with a mean age of 54.3±10.3 years. Thinner RNFL was significantly correlated with a higher prevalence of ECAS (P = 0.035; standardized regression coefficient beta:-0.04; non-standardized regression coefficient B:-0.99; 95% confidence intervals(CI):-1.90,-0.07), after adjusting for age (P