What are the two most common findings with hypertensive retinopathy?

The signs include flame shaped hemorrhages at the disc margin, blurred disc margins, congested retinal veins, papilledema, and secondary macular exudates. Hard exudates can deposit in the macula causing a macular star. Optic nerve pallor is also present in patients with chronic hypertension.

Can hypertension cause macular edema?

Classically, elevated blood pressure results in a series of retinal microvascular changes called hypertensive retinopathy, comprising of generalized and focal retinal arteriolar narrowing, arteriovenous nicking, retinal hemorrhages, microaneurysms and, in severe cases, optic disc and macular edema.

How can you differentiate between diabetic retinopathy and hypertensive retinopathy?

Both cause damage to the retina, but they have different causes. Diabetic retinopathy is caused by high blood sugar. Hypertensive retinopathy is caused by high blood pressure. Both conditions are diagnosed by an eye doctor.

What is the significance of retinal changes in hypertension?

When your blood pressure is too high, the retina’s blood vessel walls may thicken. This may cause your blood vessels to become narrow, which then restricts blood from reaching the retina. In some cases, the retina becomes swollen.

How do you describe a Fundoscopy?

Fundoscopy typically reveals severe tortuosity, engorgement of retinal veins, deep haemorrhages, cotton wool spots and optic disc swelling.

What causes hypertensive retinopathy?

A: Hypertensive retinopathy is caused by high blood pressure. While having high blood pressure can increase the risk of diabetic retinopathy, this condition is a complication of diabetes, meaning anyone with diabetes type 1 or type 2 can potentially develop the condition.

How does hypertension affect the retina?

Can high blood pressure cause retinopathy?

It changes light and images that enter the eye into nerve signals that are sent to the brain. Damage to the retina from high blood pressure is called hypertensive retinopathy. It occurs as the existing high blood pressure causes changes to the microvasculature of the retina.

How does high blood pressure cause diabetic retinopathy?

Increased blood pressure has been hypothesised, through the effects of increased blood flow, to damage the retinal capillary endothelial cells in eyes of people with diabetes.

What can a Fundoscopy see?

Clinical Images of the Retina

• Normal fundus. Vessels emerge from nasal side of disc.
• Pathological Optic Cupping. Note cup-to-disc ratio at least 0.8 (physiologic limit of 0.5).
• Optic Disc Edema.
• Arterio-Venous (AV) Nicking.
• Cotton Wool Spots.
• Emboli and Infarcts.
• Roth Spot.