Table 4 Clinical features and retinal venular calibre in OSA plus hospital controls by quartile.

From: Obstructive sleep apnea, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and hypertensive microvascular disease: a cross-sectional observational cohort study

Retinal venular calibre

Clinical features in OSA and controls

156–189 µm (n = 48)

190–205 µm (n = 49)

206–223 µm (n = 49)

224–291 µm (n = 48)

p value

Age (mean, SD, years)

68.8, 9.3

67, 8.7

65.7, 10.8

64, 9.2

0.01

Gender (male)

25 (52%)

26 (53%)

21 (43%)

28 (58%)

0.68

BMI (mean, SD, kg/m2)

29.5, 8.2

30.6, 7.4

28.6, 6.4

30.5, 9.5

0.58

Smoking history

21 (44%)

25 (51%)

29 (59%)

28 (58%)

0.22

Pack years (mean, SD)

24.6, 19.6

34.5, 19.5

30.7, 21

39, 31.5

0.07

Hypertension

32 (67%)

29 (59%)

24 (49%)

25 (52%)

0.21

Mean arterial pressure (mean, SD, mmHg)

88.2, 11.8

94.7, 10.3

89.8, 11.3

91.3, 9.4

0.24

Dyslipidemia

19 (40%)

22 (45%)

14 (29%)

19 (40%)

1.00

Diabetes

15 (31%)

12 (25%)

8 (16%)

16 (33%)

1.00

Retinal arteriole calibre (mean, SD, µm)

130.4, 15.2

136.4, 13

147.5, 14.1

157.1, 15.1

< 0.01

OSA patients only

OSA (n = 79)

n = 31

n = 21

n = 12

n = 6

< 0.001

 Mild (n = 20)

6

9

2

0

0.02

 Moderate (n = 22)

8

7

5

1

0.11

 Severe (n = 37)

17

5

5

5

< 0.001

Mean pulse pressure (mean, SD, mmHg)

55.8, 15.5

57.5, 14

55.0, 7.0

54.6, 14.0

0.98

  1. Smaller retinal venular calibre was associated with an older age (p = 0.01), a smaller arteriole calibre (p < 0.01), and there was a trend with fewer pack years (p = 0.07).
  2. In patients with OSA only, all OSA was associated with a smaller venular calibre (p < 0.001). Mild and severe OSA were associated with a smaller venular calibre (p = 0.02, p < 0.001 respectively). Retinal venular calibre was not associated with mean pulse pressure (p = 0.98).
  3. Significant values are in bold.
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