{"id":3428,"date":"2026-01-13T08:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T07:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vbhi-institute.org\/?p=3428"},"modified":"2026-01-13T08:37:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T07:37:00","slug":"the-retina-a-future-diagnostic-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vbhi-institute.org\/en\/the-retina-a-future-diagnostic-tool\/","title":{"rendered":"The retina: a future diagnostic tool?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\">[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221; el_class=&#8221;intro&#8221;]In a recent scientific publication, several researchers from the <a href=\"https:\/\/rhu-shiva.com\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">RHU SHIVA<\/a> programme, including <a href=\"https:\/\/vbhi-institute.org\/en\/equipe\/stephanie-debette\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Professor St\u00e9phanie Debette<\/a>, Omics VBHI referent, demonstrated similarities between retinal microvascular features and signs of <a href=\"https:\/\/vbhi-institute.org\/en\/vascular-brain-diseases\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cerebral small vessel disease<\/a> visible on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This represents real hope for the early, cost-effective diagnosis of this disease on a large scale.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]\n<h2>Background<\/h2>\n<p>Cerebral small vessel disease refers to damage affecting very small blood vessels in the brain. It can be detected using brain MRI. However, MRI scans are costly and difficult to deploy on a large scale.<\/p>\n<p>We know that blood vessels in the eye located in the retina share many characteristics with those in the brain. For this reason, researchers investigated whether <strong>retinal images could serve as indicators of the condition of cerebral blood vessels<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>Methods<\/h2>\n<p>The researchers first studied older adults from the French <a href=\"https:\/\/the-three-city-study-3c.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">3C-Dijon cohort<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A brain MRI scan was performed at the start of the study.<\/li>\n<li>Ten years later, retinal photographs were taken to measure the shape and diameter of small retinal blood vessels.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>They then:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>analysed all published scientific studies on the topic;<\/li>\n<li>used a genetic method known as Mendelian randomisation to assess whether there is a causal link between retinal vessel characteristics and cerebral small vessel disease.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Results<\/h2>\n<p>Among 670 participants (average age: 70 years):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Certain features of retinal arterioles \u2014 in particular <strong>reduced complexity of the vascular network<\/strong> \u2014 were associated with more severe cerebral small vessel disease visible on MRI.<\/li>\n<li>Other signs, such as <strong>narrower arteriolar diameter or increased curvature of retinal venules<\/strong>, were also linked to MRI markers of the disease.<\/li>\n<li>Reduced complexity of the arteriolar network was associated with poorer performance in executive functions (organisation, concentration, planning).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Analyses of the scientific literature (nearly 8,000 individuals in total) showed similar findings. Genetic analyses also suggested that <strong>increased tortuosity of retinal venules may directly contribute<\/strong> to abnormalities observed in the brain.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Taken together, these results show that <strong>the shape and structure of small retinal blood vessels<\/strong> may reflect the condition of small blood vessels in the brain. This opens up promising prospects for <strong>earlier detection<\/strong> of cerebral small vessel disease using a simple, non-invasive eye examination that is more accessible than MRI.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Scientific publication<\/strong>: Arnould L, Soumar\u00e9 A, D&#8217;Aoust T, Lima Rebou\u00e7as SC, Bordes C, Crivello F, Korobelnik JF, Paques M, Sargurupremraj M, Mishra A, Zhu YC, Delcourt C, Helmer C, Khawaja A, Hysi P, Binquet C, Creuzot-Garcher C, Debette S. <strong>Retinal Microvascular Correlates of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease in Older Age.<\/strong> Neurology. 2025 Nov 11;105(9):e214251. doi: 10.1212\/WNL.0000000000214251. Epub 2025 Oct 17. PMID: 41105908; PMCID: PMC12539934. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.neurology.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1212\/WNL.0000000000214251\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.neurology.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1212\/WNL.0000000000214251<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/rhu-shiva.com\/en\/blog\/2025\/10\/17\/correlats-microvasculaires-retiniens-des-maladies-des-petits-vaisseaux-cerebraux\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">article from the website of the RHU SHIVA programme<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What if retinal imaging could help diagnose cerebral small vessel disease? An explanation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1024,"featured_media":3431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-scientific-publication","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The retina: a future diagnostic tool? - VBHI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vbhi-institute.org\/en\/the-retina-a-future-diagnostic-tool\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The retina: a future diagnostic tool? - VBHI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What if retinal imaging could help diagnose cerebral small vessel disease? 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