Assessment of the retinal microvascular network has been recognized for many years as a tool that can provide information of both pathophysiological and clinical relevance in a number of cardiovascular diseases. This has been shown to be the case in essential hypertension, in which evaluation of retinal vessels started about a century ago via approaches that were much less sophisticated and technologically refined than those currently adopted in the clinical and research setting. Indeed, it was through retinal vessel examination that it was found that in hypertensive patients retinal arteriolar diameters undergo a narrowing process whose magnitude is related to the severity of the hypertensive state. Furthermore, it was via retinal vessel studies that the arteriolar narrowing accompanying a chronic blood pressure elevation was found to be not only an adaptive process to the higher intravascular pressure but also a marker capable of independently predicting and contributing over the years to the development and progression of hypertension. 2,4 Alterations in the microvascular retinal network have also been documented in diabetes mellitus, obesity, renal insufficiency, and renal failure, their detection being associated with target organ damage at the cardiac and vascular level as well as with an increased risk of future fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular and renal events.

中文翻译：

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关注心脏：充血性心力衰竭中的视网膜微循环紊乱

多年来，视网膜微血管网络的评估已被公认为一种工具，可以提供许多心血管疾病的病理生理学和临床相关信息。这已被证明是原发性高血压的情况，其中视网膜血管的评估始于大约一个世纪前，所采用的方法远不及目前临床和研究环境中采用的方法复杂和技术完善。事实上，正是通过视网膜血管检查发现，在高血压患者中，视网膜小动脉直径经历了一个变窄的过程，其大小与高血压状态的严重程度有关。此外，通过视网膜血管研究，发现伴随慢性血压升高的小动脉变窄不仅是对较高血管内压的适应过程，而且是多年来能够独立预测和促进高血压发展和进展的标志物. 2,4 在糖尿病、肥胖、肾功能不全和肾功能衰竭中也记录了微血管视网膜网络的改变，它们的检测与心脏和血管水平的靶器官损伤以及未来致命风险的增加有关。和非致命性心血管和肾脏事件。