Similar risk factors may be at work in the simultaneous progression of retinopathy and chronic kidney disease, a study in JAMA Ophthalmology reports.

The multicenter cohort investigation included 1,583 patients with chronic kidney disease. Researchers took fundus photographs at baseline and then three and a half years later. Masked graders reviewed the photographs and looked for the presence and severity of retinopathy and assessed vessel calibers.

The study found chronic kidney disease worsening was associated with the progression of retinopathy in univariable, but not multivariable, analysis. Researchers reported the odds ratio for chronic kidney disease progression associated with worsening retinopathy—in comparison with participants with stable retinopathy—was 2.24 in the univariable analysis among participants with baseline and follow-up photography. In the multivariable analysis, the odds ratio was 1.62.        

“Progression of retinopathy appears to be associated with progression of chronic kidney disease on univariable analysis but not on multivariable analysis, suggesting that similar risk factors may be affecting the progression of both retinal and chronic kidney disease,” researchers wrote in their paper.