High street eye test can predict risk of stroke, study finds

High street eye test can predict risk of stroke, study finds

Routine eye tests can be used to accurately predict the risk of suffering a stroke, research has found.

Scientists said changes to blood vessels in the retina, the light-sensitive area at the back of the eye, are a crucial marker of overall brain and heart health.

Eye scans taken at opticians could be used as a screening tool by GPs to assess stroke risk, experts said, as they were found to be just as accurate as looking at traditional risk factors such as high blood pressure and cholesterol.

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The study, published in the journal Heart, used artificial intelligence to analyse the eye scans from 45,000 British adults with an average age of 55. These participants were followed for more than a decade, during which period 749 had a stroke.

The study identified 29 separate changes visible on eye scans that were all associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke. Patients who suffered a stroke were found to have reduced complexity of blood vessels and less “branching” of their arteries and veins.

At present, doctors use factors such as cholesterol and blood pressure to determine a patient’s risk of stroke, requiring clinical examination and blood tests. However, the AI tool — called the Retina-based Microvascular Health Assessment System — scored as well as these traditional tests in predicting stroke risk.

It looked at images taken of the retina, called fundus photography, which are often offered as part of routine eye tests at high street opticians and provide a detailed picture of the blood vessels at the back of the eyes.

Fundus camera and eye exam image on a monitor.

Retina scans allow blood vessels to be seen without having to peel back skin, making them a non-invasive way to check heart health

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The retina is the only part of your body where blood vessels can be seen without peeling back skin. This makes it a useful indicator of overall heart health, and is already used in conditions including diabetes to look for damage to blood vessels.

The new study, led by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said eye scans were “an ideal candidate for assessing damage from systemic ill health”, adding: “This model presents a practical and easily implementable approach for incident stroke risk assessment, particularly for primary healthcare and low-resource settings.”

A stroke is when blood stops flowing to a part of your brain due to a blockage in blood vessels or the bursting of a blood vessel in the brain. They are life-threatening and cause brain cells to die as they are deprived of oxygen. Symptoms include slurred speech, sudden confusion and vision problems.

About 100,000 people have strokes each year and there are 1.3 million stroke survivors in the UK, more than half of whom have a resulting disability.

Dr Maeva May, from the Stroke Association, said eye scans “could become a viable way to non-invasively identify people who are at an increased risk of stroke who could then take steps to reduce that risk”.

She said: “Artificial intelligence approaches like this provide exciting new ways to assess these levels of risk. They could help with decision-making to support – but not replace – the expertise of healthcare professionals. However, more research is needed before this method could enter clinical practice.

“Identifying who is at risk of stroke is also only part of the challenge. The government’s ten-year health plan should look at how such innovation can help people across prevention, treatment, and recovery. The Stroke Association advises that people should regularly monitor their blood pressure and anyone with concerns should speak to their GP.”

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