An observational study in Health, Hypertension and Chronic Kidney Disease, sponsored by University of Edinburgh. Recruiting at 1 site in United Kingdom. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 80 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-05-13.
Sponsored by University of Edinburgh · Observational
Patients with high blood pressure (hypertension) and chronic kidney disease are at an increased risk of developing heart disease and strokes. Part of this risk is due to changes in the structure and function of the blood vessels throughout the body. It is thought that reducing high blood pressure and treating chronic kidney disease improves the structure and function of blood vessels but information on this is limited. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a method of looking at the blood vessels at the back of the eye. It is a simple, quick and non-invasive test that you may have previously had during a visit to the optician. The purpose of the study is to ascertain whether OCT is able to detect changes in the eye's blood vessels in patients with hypertension and chronic kidney disease compared to healthy individuals and also to see if any differences seen improve with treatment.
This project is an exploratory study, using enhanced depth imaging with the new SPECTRALIS OCT, designed to examine choroidal and microvascular retinal structure in patients with hypertension, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and in age and sex matched healthy controls. The study is non-invasive and takes only a few seconds to acquire these complex images. The Centre, where the images will be captured and where image analysis systems are located, is on the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) site close to the RIE outpatient clinics, making recruitment easy.
6,114 studies on the registry are indexed under Hypertension; 912 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 150 is below the median of 350 across 1,163 observational studies indexed under Hypertension.
Browse Hypertension studies →University of Edinburgh is the lead sponsor of 403 studies on the registry; 64 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Healthy volunteers will be recruited from a research database. CKD and patients with hypertension will be recruited from these respective clinics in secondary care.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.
Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.
BMI (body mass index)
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
HIV
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hepatitis B tests
Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.
Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Patients on treatment for hypertension
Pre- \& post haemodialysis
Healthy volunteers
Pre-dialysis CKD \& those with a functional renal transplant
Untreated
Choroidal & retinal morphology
A composite measures outcome including: 1. Sub-foveal choroidal thickness 2. Choroidal volume 3. Retinal vasculature morphology and optimality measurements (arteriolar thickness, branching coefficient and branching angle; fractal dimension, and venular tortuosity.)
Time frame: 2 weeks
Neuro-retinal metrics
A composite measures outcome of neuro-retinal metrics (retinal thickness, retinal nerve fibre layer thickness)
Time frame: 2 weeks
Started May 2014 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Dec 2027, 163 months after the start.
Of 345 non-industry observational studies under Hypertension, half reached primary completion within 44 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 17 and three quarters within 111. This study's planned 163 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 426 studies reached it within 38 months; a quarter within 17 and three quarters within 96.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
Contact study teamGet an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.