The eye, the kidney, and cardiovascular disease: old concepts, better tools, and new horizons

AI Generated Summary*

Narrative review arguing that homology between ocular and renal microvessels supports noninvasive retinal imaging for renal and cardiovascular risk. Shared type IV collagen in Bruch's and glomerular basement membranes and parallel endothelin signalling underpin the analogy. Fundus photography links arteriolar narrowing to roughly double the risk of incident hypertension, wider venules to later diabetes, and caliber and fractal measures to stroke and coronary events, while kidney disease findings stay inconsistent. One optical coherence tomography (OCT) study reported about 5% retinal and 25% choroidal thinning in nondiabetic predialysis CKD versus matched healthy and hypertensive groups, thinner choroids tracking lower eGFR and heavier proteinuria. OCT angiography, biobank data and deep learning are proposed next steps, metrics adding perhaps 10% over existing tools.

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