{"id":606155,"date":"2026-09-20T11:20:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T11:20:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/606155\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T11:20:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T11:20:28","slug":"atrial-fibrillation-eye-scan-may-predict-risk-4-years-sooner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/606155\/","title":{"rendered":"Atrial fibrillation: Eye scan may predict risk 4 years sooner"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"close-upShare on Pinterest<\/a>Eye scans may be able to predict AFib risk 4 years before diagnosis. macroworld\/ Getty ImagesAbout 52.55 million people around the world are living with atrial fibrillation (AFib).People with AFib are at an increased risk for several health issues, including stroke and heart failure. It\u2019s not uncommon for AFib to go undetected until it becomes a problem due to a lack of noticeable or unique symptoms. A new study says certain changes to the eye\u2019s retina may help detect AFib as early as 4 years before diagnosis. <\/p>\n

In many cases, AFib doesn\u2019t have any noticeable symptoms or has symptoms shared with other common issues. For this reason, it\u2019s not uncommon for AFib to go undetected until it becomes a problem. <\/p>\n

Now, a new study published in the journal PLOS Digital Health<\/a> presents evidence suggesting certain changes to the eye\u2019s retina<\/a>, or layer of cells in the back of the eye, may help detect AFib as early as 4 years before diagnosis. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe retina is the only place in the body where blood vessels and nerve fiber tissue can be analyzed noninvasively with commonly available eye tests like OCT scans or fundus photographs<\/a>,\u201d Josef Huemer<\/a>, MD, consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital and honorary senior research fellow at the Institute of Ophthalmology University College London, and lead author of this study, told Medical News Today. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn previous work on retinal strokes we found a very strong signal for ocular events in patients with AFib, and further work has shown that diseases like Parkinson\u2019s disease<\/a>, or even schizophrenia<\/a> would cause subtle retinal changes \u2014 in the case of Parkinson\u2019s disease several years prior<\/a> to the disease manifestation.\u201d<\/p>\n

FC JSS 18-Sep-26. Please link to the previous work mentioned above (I am having a hard time finding it on a quick search).<\/p>\n

This layer combines two different layers in the retina, the ganglion cell layer<\/a> that relays visual information from the retina and the brain, and the inner plexiform layer,<\/a> which sends to the brain info on certain visual signals like motion and changes between light and dark.<\/p>\n

\u201cThinning of the mGCIPL is a sign of retrograde, or past, degeneration, and is therefore not disease specific,\u201d Huemer explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is most likely caused by mini strokes in the brain, a common finding in patients with AFib. However, this finding was identified in both cohorts, one of hospital-based patients and one in a healthy volunteer study, which gives us confidence in the findings,\u201d he detailed. <\/p>\n

\u201cFurthermore, we found thinning of the inner nuclear layer, which is not caused by retrograde degeneration, and our hypothesis is that this thinning is caused by cardiovascular disease, as this area is very vulnerable to micro strokes of the eye,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

Heumer and his team also found that among study participants who did not originally have AFib when their retinal photos were taken, those who eventually developed AFib had thinner mGCIPL layers on average 4 years before presenting to hospital with the heart condition. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is indeed very interesting, it highlights several things,\u201d Huemer told us. \u201cNumber one, the difficulty of establishing the diagnosis of AFib. Number two, this thinning can fairly easily be quantified by OCT scans that are widely available in primary care ophthalmology \u2014 for example at high street optometrists in the U.K.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe next step is to explore if this finding could also be used to improve risk calculation and to assess if we can identify patients earlier and refer them for long-term electrocardiogram<\/a> monitoring,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are currently working on more OCT-related image analysis in the context of cardiovascular disease in large scale datasets. We have also expanded our dataset to enable further oculomic research,\u201d said Huemer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the coming years we anticipate progressing our research algorithms in oculomics through the regulatory pathway for approval as a medical device, for use in local optometry settings for earlier detection of systemic disease,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

When asked how a heart condition like AFib might be assessed through changes in retina eye cells, Huemer said the retina allows for unique, non-invasive assessment of blood vessels and nerve fiber layers. <\/p>\n

\u201cFurthermore, seeing is highly energy dependent, therefore the retinal vasculature is more susceptible to show cardiovascular damage in similar fashion to diabetic retinopathy<\/a>. The connection of cardiovascular problems and subtle changes at the level of the retina is well established and was first mentioned in the late 1800s<\/a>. With today\u00b4s imaging and AI supported segmentation algorithms, as well as advanced statistics, we can provide more robust evidence about these associations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Josef Huemer, MD<\/p>\n

MNT also spoke with Benjamin Bert<\/a>, MD, a board-certified ophthalmologist at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, who was not involved in this study.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince atrial fibrillation can cause strokes, the hypothesis from the researchers is that there could be \u2018silent ischemia\u2019 \u2014 small episodes of poor blood perfusion causing damage to the tissues leading to thinning of these particular layers of the retina,\u201d Bert detailed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey also hypothesize that it could be related to mild damage to the brain that then leads to cellular atrophy in the retina,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Finally, MNT also had the opportunity to speak with Cheng-Han Chen<\/a>, MD, a board-certified interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, CA.<\/p>\n

Chen, who likewise was not involved in this study, commented that a technique that could identify people at increased risk of developing AFib through routine eye imaging could potentially broaden our ability to recognize risk earlier and identify patients who may benefit from closer cardiovascular monitoring.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe underlying mechanism linking AFib with changes in the cells or blood vessels of the eye is not yet well understood,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe do not typically think of heart rhythm disorders as being directly associated with changes in eye cells, so this potential connection is particularly interesting and warrants further investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFuture studies will need to determine exactly what biological changes in the eye are associated with AFib and whether these changes can reliably predict who will go on to develop the condition,\u201d Chen continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearchers will also need to determine how well eye imaging performs across different populations and whether it could ultimately become a practical screening tool. At this stage, these findings are promising but should be viewed as an early step toward understanding a potential connection between the heart and the eye,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Share on PinterestEye scans may be able to predict AFib risk 4 years before diagnosis. macroworld\/ Getty ImagesAbout…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[256080,10829,134,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-606155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-afib","tag-atrial-fibrillation","tag-health","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}