Central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) is an emergency state characterized by sudden, painless vision impairment. Patients with CRAO have an increased risk of cardiovascular events, including stroke, likely related to vascular endothelial damage. Therefore, we investigated flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) of the brachial artery as a marker of endothelial dysfunction, intima-media complex thickness (IMT) of the common carotid artery, pointing to the arterial wall atherosclerotic alteration, and transthoracic echocardiographic parameters in 126 consecutive CRAO patients (66 men [52.4%], median age 55 years) and 107 control participants (56 men [52.3%], matched by age, sex, and body mass index). Most CRAO patients (n = 104, 82.5%) had at least one internal medicine comorbidity, mainly hypercholesterolemia and hypertension, which coexisted in one-fourth of them. Furthermore, they had a 38.2% lower relative increase of FMD (FMD%) and a 23.1% thicker IMT compared to the controls (p < 0.001, both, also after adjustment for potential confounders). On echocardiography, the CRAO group was characterized by increased dimensions of the left atrium and thicker left ventricular walls, together with impaired left ventricular diastolic function. CRAO is related to vascular endothelial damage, atherosclerosis, and left ventricular diastolic cardiac dysfunction. Thus, non-invasive ultrasound assessments, such as FMD%, IMT, and echocardiography, may be helpful in screening patients with increased CRAO risk, particularly those with other comorbidities.
Keywords: central retinal artery occlusion; flow-mediated dilatation; intima-media thickness; ultrasonography; vascular endothelial dysfunction.