Retinal Vessel Tortuosity and Its Relation to Traditional and Novel Vascular Risk Markers in Persons with Diabetes

Results : Adjusting for age and gender, longer diabetes duration was associated with more tortuous retinal arterioles (mean difference in arteriolar tortuosity 5.85 × 10 −5 , 95% Confidence Interval 1.44–10.3 × 10 −5 ; p = 0.016; ≤10 versus >10 years duration). Reduced flicker-light induced retinal vasodilatation was associated with tortuous arterioles and venules (mean difference in arteriolar tortuosity 5.62 × 10 −5 , 4.50–6.72 × 10 −5 ; p −5, 3.33–8.55 × 10 −5 ; p Conclusions : Increased retinal arteriolar tortuosity was related to longer diabetes duration and reduced flicker-light induced vasodilatory response, suggesting that retinal vascular tortuosity in adults with diabetes may be influenced by multiple diabetes-related physio-pathological changes.