Diabetic Retinopathy and Risk of Heart Failure

• Published in: Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2008-04, Vol.51 (16), p.1573-1578
• Main Authors: Cheung, Ning, MBBS, Wang, Jie J., PhD, Rogers, Sophie L., Mepi, Brancati, Frederick, MD, MPH, Klein, Ronald, MD, MPH, Sharrett, A. Richey, MD, DrPH, Wong, Tien Y., MD, PhD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: African Americans; Atherosclerosis; Blood pressure; Body mass index; Cardiology; Cardiomyopathies - complications; Cardiovascular; Cardiovascular disease; Cholesterol; Confidence Intervals; Diabetes; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - complications; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - physiopathology; Diabetic retinopathy; Diabetic Retinopathy - complications; Endothelium - physiopathology; Female; Gender; Glycated Hemoglobin A - metabolism; Health Status; Health Status Indicators; Heart failure; Heart Failure - etiology; Heart Failure - physiopathology; Humans; Hypertension; Incidence; Insulin; Internal Medicine; Male; Middle Aged; Mortality; Multivariate analysis; Photography; Population; Prospective Studies; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Studies
• ISSN: 0735-1097; 1558-3597
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2007.11.076

Diabetic Retinopathy and Risk of Heart Failure Ning Cheung, Jie J. Wang, Sophie L. Rogers, Frederick Brancati, Ronald Klein, A. Richey Sharrett, Tien Y. Wong, for the ARIC Study Investigators Microvascular disease might play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic cardiomyopathy, a major cause of heart failure (HF) in diabetes. In a population-based cohort of diabetic persons free of clinical heart disease, we report an association of diabetic retinopathy with a more than 2-fold higher risk of incident HF, independent of conventional cardiovascular risk factors, glycemic control, and other potential confounders. This finding supports the hypothesis that systemic microcirculatory damage from diabetes, reflected as retinopathy signs, contributes to the pathogenesis of diabetic cardiomyopathy.