Imparied retrobulbar blood flow and increased carotid IMT in patients with Crohn’s disease

Crohn’s Disease [CD] is one of the Inflammatory Bowel Diseases that are chronic relapsing inflammatory diseases. Despite the major affected organ is intestine in CD, extra intestinal organs and tissues including cardiovascular system are also affected. Several studies have demonstrated that CD patients may have a higher risk of advancing atherosclerosis. The microvascular endothelial dysfunction plays an essential role for developing coronary atherosclerosis. Microvascular structural abnormalities in the retinal circulation may predict macrovascular events such as stroke and coronary heart disease. In order to assess the the microvascular circulation of the retina; retrobulbar blood flow velocities and resisitive indices [RI] of retrobulbar arteries are measured. The carotid intima media thickness [CIMT] correlates strongly with CV risk in the future. We aimed to investigate whether calculation of RI of retrobulbar arteries can be used as novel, easy and reproducible method to define atherosclerotic risk in CD patients along with CIMT. Thirty CD patients with remission period and thirty healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. Measurement of carotid intima-media thickness and retrobulbar blood flow velocities were obtained with ultrasound scanner and colour Doppler ultrasonography. The RI of the OA [0.77 ± 0.06 vs. 0.65 ± 0.06, p < 0.001] and CIMT 0.52 [0.50–0.60] vs. 0.40 [0.40–0.50] in patients with CD was significantly higher than the control group. Increased OARI and CIMT values may reflect an increased risk of atherosclerosis and OARI measurement may be used as a screening test for microvascular circulation evaluation in patients with CD.