The eye as a window to the brain.

Abstract

The University Eye Clinic Maastricht is leading in eye care in the Netherlands, and home to 'the Maastricht Study', an ongoing population-based cohort study that focuses on the etiology, pathophysiology, complications and comorbidities of type 2 diabetes mellitus [1]. The Maastricht Study aims to include 10,000 participants aged between 40 and 75 years and living in the southern part of the Netherlands. The Maastricht Study is characterized by an extensive phenotyping approach, including the assessment of cardiovascular diseases, chronic diseases, public health medicine, biomarkers, lifestyle and behavior, and neurological diseases, including eye diseases (see Figure 1). The following ophthalmic measurements are performed at The Maastricht Study: autorefraction and intraocular pressure, visual acuity, dynamic vessel analysis, Scheimpflug camera of the anterior eye segment, macular pigment reflectometer, fundus photography, perimetry, optical coherence tomography, and confocal microscopy of the cornea.