Week in Review: OCT Biomarkers for Kidney Disease, Cataract Risk Is Linked With Liver Disease

A weekly roundup of ophthalmic news from around the web.

Certain OCT metrics could be biomarkers for chronic kidney disease progression. Results from several prospective longitudinal studies found that choroidal and retinal thicknesses, measured with OCT, were thinner in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) than in healthy volunteers, and that thickness decreased with increasing CKD severity (as measured by estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR]). Conversely, kidney transplant recipients had choroidal and retinal thicknesses similar to those seen in healthy volunteers, and choroidal thickness improved with eGFR gains. In patients with stable CKD, decreases in macular volume were associated with increased risk of eGFR decline. The authors conclude that there is potential for OCT metrics to be used in future CKD clinical trials to help stratify patients around CKD progression and incident cardiovascular risk. Nature Communications

A potential side effect of severe liver disease: cataract. Data from more than 326,000 patients enrolled in the UK Biobank study were used to evaluate whether there was an association between severe liver disease and cataract development. Those patients with diagnosed nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic fatty liver disease, liver fibrosis, or cirrhosis had a significantly greater risk of cataract development; patients with viral hepatitis had a nonsignificant greater risk. Having hypertension further increased the risk of cataract. eClinicalMedicine