Hypertensive eye disease includes many kinds of problems caused by high blood pressure. The most common one is called hypertensive retinopathy, where the blood vessels in the eye get damaged. Other commonly affected parts of the eye due to hypertension include the choroid, the vascular bed of the retina, and the optic nerve. This is known as hypertensive choroidopathy and hypertensive optic neuropathy, respectively.
Hypertensive eye disease can be caused by high blood pressure over a long period. In the last 30 years, research has taught us a lot more about the prevalence of hypertensive eye disease, its links to other health problems in the body, and its implications for a person’s overall health. This is especially true for hypertensive retinopathy. The blood vessels in the eye are quite similar in structure and function to those in the heart, brain, and kidneys. Because the tiny blood vessels in the retina can be easily seen without any complicated procedures, it becomes easier to study them. This has created a lot of interest among doctors and researchers to find better ways to check the health of these eye blood vessels, which can give clues about other diseases too.
Significant progress has been made with the use of adaptive optics and artificial intelligence in human sciences. These technologies have advanced the study of the ocular fundus. The eye is now a valuable site for diagnosing and predicting various disease conditions. Because of their accessible location, retinal microvessels allow easy detection of hypertension-related vascular damage. They have therefore been proposed as a window into the heart, kidneys, and brain health in patients with hypertension.
