Conclusion
cardiovascular disease, CRVE, CRAE, SDB
MINOR, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
In this study of non-diabetic patients presenting to a sleep clinic for investigation of SDB, total variance in retinal vessel size was partially explained by a combination of anthropometric characteristics and known predictors, with measures of SDB providing very little to no contribution. In a more severely affected sub-group, increased SDB severity was a minor predictor for increased evening CRAE values, while 12 months of RFM/CPAP treatment was associated with a small decrease in evening CRVE values, which may reflect modifiable cardiovascular disease risk, particularly for patients with more severe levels of SDB. However, overall findings in this non-diabetic sleep clinic cohort do not support a major impact of SDB on the morphology of the retinal microvasculature, suggesting that SDB may also have fairly minimal impact on the cerebral microvasculature, particularly when classic cardiovascular risk factors are absent or well controlled.