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Hypertensive retinopathy

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• Symptoms
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Definition:

Hypertensive retinopathy is damage to the retina caused by high blood pressure.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

High blood pressure can cause damage to blood vessels in the eyes. The higher the blood pressure and the longer it has been high, the more severe the damage is likely to be.

Your health care provider can see narrowing of blood vessels, and excess fluid oozing from blood vessels, with an instrument called an ophthalmoscope. The degree of retina damage (retinopathy) is graded on a scale of I to IV.

At grade I, no symptoms may be present. Grade IV hypertensive retinopathy includes swelling of the optic nerve and of the visual center of the retina (macula). Such swelling can cause decreased vision.

• Review Date: 8/8/2006
• Reviewed By: Paul B. Griggs, MD, Department of Ophthalmology, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, WA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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