Prevalence and Risk Factors of Retinal Arteriolar Emboli: The Singapore Malay Eye Study

Cheung, Ning; Lim, Lyndell; Wang, Jie Jin; Islam, F.M. Amirul; Mitchell, Paul; Saw, Seang Mei; Aung, Tin; Wong, Tien Y.

doi:10.1016/j.ajo.2008.05.033

« Previous Next »American Journal of Ophthalmology
Volume 146, Issue 4 , Pages 620-624, October 2008

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Retinal Arteriolar Emboli: The Singapore Malay Eye Study

Ning Cheung
- Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
Lyndell Lim
- Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
Jie Jin Wang
- Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
- Centre for Vision Research, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
F.M. Amirul Islam
- Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
Paul Mitchell
- Centre for Vision Research, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Seang Mei Saw
- Department of Community, Occupational and Family Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
- Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
Tin Aung
- Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
- Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
Tien Y. Wong
- Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
- Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
- Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
- Inquiries to Tien Y. Wong, Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, 32 Gisborne Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia

Accepted 22 May 2008. published online 21 July 2008.

Purpose

To examine the prevalence and risk factors of retinal arteriolar emboli, a risk predictor of stroke, in an Asian population.

Design

Population-based cross-sectional study.

Methods

Retinal emboli were ascertained from retinal photographs obtained from both eyes of 3,265 Asian Malays, aged 40 to 80 years, according to a standardized protocol. Risk factors were assessed from detailed standardized interviews, clinical examinations, and laboratory investigations.

Results

The overall prevalence of retinal emboli was 0.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58 to 0.62). A finding of retinal emboli was strongly associated with increasing age (P = .005, for trend), but age-stratified prevalence rates were still lower than those reported from previous population-based studies of White persons. After adjusting for age and gender, the presence of retinal emboli was associated with cigarette smoking (odds ratio [OR], 5.96; 95% CI, 1.75 to 20.32), elevated total cholesterol (OR, 5.21; 95% CI, 1.93 to 12.82), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR, 2.98; 95% CI, 1.20 to 7.39), and self-reported history of angina (OR, 5.67; 95% CI, 1.62 to 19.91). These associations remained significant in multivariate analysis with additional adjustment for other risk factors.