Abstract

This study aims to know the outcomes of patients as a result of retinal vasculopathy during pregnancy. We investigated whether the mother’s blood pressure during pregnancy has an effect on the retinal microvessels. Demographic information and data were collected from different hospitals in Iraq, where 210 patients were included. The study aimed to know the changes of retinal blood vessels to pregnant patients. The average age for this study ranged between 25-40 years. Patients underwent OCTA, a new, non-invasive fundus imaging technology that can identify retinal and choroidal blood flow motion information with high accuracy and visualize retinal and choroidal microcirculation of living tissue. The statistical analysis performed was a descriptive analysis of data through graphs and tables of qualitative and quantitative variables using a database in Microsoft Office™ Excel. In the second stage, with the final results of the study, an analysis was carried out using the IBM SOFT SPSS statistical program. The Result which found that 210 patients were included and divided into two groups, the mean age to the patient group was 33 ± 6.3 and the control group was 32 ± 4.8 with a b value of 0.98. It was found that DCP was greater in all quadrants for pregnant women with 16.2±0.3 compared to the control group with 15.8±0.4. In addition, there was a slight increase in the arteriolar caliber to the patient’s group with 115.2 ± 12.2 compared to the control group, which was 114.4 ± 10.2. In the current study, the results indicate that ocular changes are directly proportional to the severity of hypertension because when blood pressure levels decreased, these changes decreased significantly.

Keywords

DCP, hypertension, blood pressure, retinal, vascular, GDM, OCTA