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Microvascular Abnormalities (microvascular + abnormality)
Selected AbstractsCutaneous vascular patterns in psoriasisINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 3 2010Giuseppe Micali MD Microvascular abnormalities are a characteristic feature of psoriasis and play a crucial role in its pathogenesis. Investigational studies have shown that activated keratinocytes in lesional skin undergo an accelerated epidermal cell turnover and are a major source of pro-angiogenic cytokines, like as VEGF, ESAF, PDECGE/TP, TNF-,, TGF-, and PDGF, suggesting that the epidermis is capable of inducing vascular proliferation. On the other hand, microvascular alterations are essential for the development and persistence of the psoriatic lesions as they provide cellular and tissue nutrition to hyperplastic keratinocytes and promote inflammatory cell migration. Also, dilated and slightly tortuous blood vessels within dermal papillae represent one of the earliest detectable histological changes for all stages of lesional development. Videodermatoscopy is a new non invasive imaging technique able to identify modifications of microvascular architecture in vivo and such evaluation will be useful for the dermatologist both for diagnostic and prognostic evaluation, as well as for post-therapeutic follow-up. In this review, the role of microvascular abnormalities in the pathogenesis of psoriasis as well as the mechanisms underlying vascular changes and their primary therapeutic implications will be reviewed and discussed. [source] Retinal vascular image analysis as a potential screening tool for cerebrovascular disease: a rationale based on homology between cerebral and retinal microvasculaturesJOURNAL OF ANATOMY, Issue 4 2005Niall Patton Abstract The retinal and cerebral microvasculatures share many morphological and physiological properties. Assessment of the cerebral microvasculature requires highly specialized and expensive techniques. The potential for using non-invasive clinical assessment of the retinal microvasculature as a marker of the state of the cerebrovasculature offers clear advantages, owing to the ease with which the retinal vasculature can be directly visualized in vivo and photographed due to its essential two-dimensional nature. The use of retinal digital image analysis is becoming increasingly common, and offers new techniques to analyse different aspects of retinal vascular topography, including retinal vascular widths, geometrical attributes at vessel bifurcations and vessel tracking. Being predominantly automated and objective, these techniques offer an exciting opportunity to study the potential to identify retinal microvascular abnormalities as markers of cerebrovascular pathology. In this review, we describe the anatomical and physiological homology between the retinal and cerebral microvasculatures. We review the evidence that retinal microvascular changes occur in cerebrovascular disease and review current retinal image analysis tools that may allow us to use different aspects of the retinal microvasculature as potential markers for the state of the cerebral microvasculature. [source] Arteriolar Involvement in the Microvascular Lesions of Diabetic Retinopathy: Implications for PathogenesisMICROCIRCULATION, Issue 1 2007TOM A. GARDINER ABSTRACT Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most widespread complication of diabetes mellitus and a major cause of blindness in the working population of developed countries. The clinicopathology of the diabetic retina has been extensively studied, although the relative contribution of the various biochemical and molecular sequelae of hyperglycemia remains ill defined. Many neural and microvascular abnormalities occur in the retina of short-term diabetic animals but it remains uncertain how closely these acute changes relate to chronic human disease. It is important to determine the relationship between alterations observed within the first weeks or months in short-term animal models, and human disease, where clinically manifest retinopathy occurs only after durations of diabetes measured in years. This review is focused on the retinal microvasculature, although it should be appreciated that pathological changes in this system often occur in parallel with abnormalities in the neural parenchyma that may be derivative or even causal. Nevertheless, it is useful to reevaluate the microvascular lesions that are manifest in the retina during diabetes in humans and long-term animal models, since in addition to providing useful clues to the pathogenic basis of DR as a disease entity, it is in the deterrence of such changes that the efficacy of any novel treatment regimes will be measured. In particular, an emphasis will be placed on the relatively unappreciated role of arteriolar dysfunction in the clinical manifestations and pathology of this disease. [source] Microvascular lesions in the brain and retina: The age, gene/environment susceptibility,Reykjavik study,ANNALS OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 5 2009Chengxuan Qiu MD Objective To investigate whether the severity and location of cerebral white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) and brain infarcts are correlated with the signs of retinal microvascular abnormalities in the elderly. Methods The study included 4,176 men and women (mean age, 76 years) who participated in the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility (AGES),Reykjavik Study. Digital retinal images of both dilated eyes were taken and evaluated for the presence of retinal focal arteriolar signs (focal arteriolar narrowing and arteriovenous nicking) and retinopathy lesions (retinal blot hemorrhages and microaneurysms). Brain magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired and evaluated for the presence and distribution of cerebral infarcts and WMHs. Logistic and multinomial logistic models were constructed to estimate the association of retinal microvascular signs to brain lesions. Results Controlling for demographic and major cardiovascular risk factors, we found that retinal focal arteriolar signs, but not retinopathy lesions, were significantly associated with an increasing load of subcortical and periventricular WMHs. The strongest association was found between retinal arteriolar signs and a heavier WMH load, specifically in the subcortical frontal lobe, and periventricular frontal and parietal caps. There was a tendency toward bilateral retinal focal arteriolar narrowing being more strongly associated with the heavier load of subcortical WMHs. Arteriovenous nicking was significantly associated with subcortical infarcts. Interpretation In older adults, retinal focal arteriolar signs, but not retinopathy lesions, are correlated with the load of diffuse WMHs, particularly those located in the subcortical frontal lobe, and the periventricular frontal and parietal caps of the brain. Ann Neurol 2009;65:569,576 [source] Major eye diseases and risk factors associated with systemic hypertension in an adult chinese population: the Beijing Eye StudyACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 2009T LIBONDI Purpose To assess the relationship of hypertension with major eye diseases and other ocular parameters. Methods The Beijing Eye Study is a population-based study. Examination at baseline in 2001; follow-up examination in 2006; 3222 subjects had blood pressure measurements. All participants underwent a thourough ophthalmic examination and blood pressure measurement. Hypertension was defined as a systolic blood pressure ,140 mm Hg and/or a diastolic blood pressure ,90 mm Hg, and/or self-reported current treatment for hypertension with antihypertensive medication. Results Mean age of participants in the present study was 60.4±10.0 years. Hypertension was present in 1500 (46.6%) of the 3222 subjects who had their blood pressure measured. In multiple regression analysis, hypertension was associated with higher intraocular pressure (P = 0.005), arterio-venous nicking (P = 0.009),retinal vein occlusions (P = 0.02), and diabetic retinopathy (P = 0.02). Hypertension was not significantly associated with the prevalence of open-angle glaucoma (P = 0.19) or angle-closure glaucoma (P = 0.15), age-related macular degeneration (P = 0.73), nuclear cataract (P = 0.88), posterior subcapsular cataract (P = 0.30), cortical cataract (P = 0.10), or area of alpha zone (P=0.05) or beta zone of parapapillary atrophy (P = 0.95). Conclusion In Chinese persons, while controlling for other systemic parameters, hypertension was associated with increased intraocular pressure, retinal microvascular abnormalities, and prevalence of retinal vein occlusion and diabetic retinopathy. Hypertension was not associated significantly with age-related macular degeneration, age-related cataract, or glaucoma [source] | ||||||||||