Retinal imaging may help reveal stroke risk

Researchers in Singapore have suggested retinal imaging may be an inexpensive and non-invasive way to assess which high blood pressure patients are more likely to have a stroke.

Findings from a study showed the risk of stroke was 35 per cent higher in those with mild hypertensive retinopathy and 137 per cent higher in those with moderate or severe hypertensive retinopathy.

The study, published by the American Heart Association journal Hypertension, tracked stroke occurrence for an average 13 years in 2,907 patients with high blood pressure who had not previously experienced a stroke. Each had photographs taken of the retina, with their level of hypertensive retinopathy scored as none, mild, moderate or severe.