This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (25)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Ophthalmology, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic

Doina Gherghel, MD; Selim Orgül, MD; Barbara Dubler; Patricia Lübeck, MD; Konstantin Gugleta, MD; Josef Flammer, MD

Arch Ophthalmol. 1999;117:1359-1362.

Objective  To assess the relation between ocular perfusion pressure and blood flow velocity in the central retinal artery in patients with acral vasospasm.

Subjects and Methods  Eighteen otherwise healthy subjects with acral vascular dysregulation, as demonstrated by nail-fold capillaroscopy, and 18 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers without vasospasm were recruited. After subjects had rested for 20 minutes in a supine position, intraocular pressure and blood flow velocity in the central retinal artery were determined by applanation tonometry and color Doppler imaging, respectively. The peak systolic velocity, end-diastolic velocity, and resistivity index were assessed. Correlations between the mean ocular perfusion pressure (2/3x[2/3x diastolic blood pressure+1/3xsystolic blood pressure]-intraocular pressure) and blood flow velocities in the central retinal artery were determined by the Pearson linear correlation factor. The Student t test was used to evaluate differences between controls and subjects with vasospasm.

Results  The mean±SD ocular perfusion pressure was 42.0±7.4 mm Hg in the group with vasospasm and 47.1±6.5 mm Hg in the control group (P=.04). In the subjects with vasospasm, the peak systolic and end-diastolic velocities and the resistivity index of the central retinal artery correlated significantly with the mean ocular perfusion pressure (R=0.49, P=.04; R=0.58, P=.01; and R=-0.67, P=.002, respectively). Such correlations were not found in the control group.

Conclusion  An altered blood flow regulation is suggested in the ocular circulation of patients with acral vasospasm.

From the University Eye Clinic, Basel, Switzerland.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Short-term retinal vessel diameter variability in relation to the history of cold extremities.
Kochkorov et al.
IOVS 2006;47:4026-4033.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Analysis of retinal vasodilation after flicker light stimulation in relation to vasospastic propensity.
Gugleta et al.
IOVS 2006;47:4034-4041.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Influence of change in body position on choroidal blood flow in normal subjects
Kaeser et al.
Br. J. Ophthalmol. 2005;89:1302-1305.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Circulatory Response to Blood Gas Perturbations in Vasospasm
Gugleta et al.
IOVS 2005;46:3288-3294.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Systemic Reduction in Glutathione Levels Occurs in Patients with Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma
Gherghel et al.
IOVS 2005;46:877-883.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Abnormal Systemic and Ocular Vascular Response to Temperature Provocation in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma Patients: A Case for Autonomic Failure?
Gherghel et al.
IOVS 2004;45:3546-3554.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Choroidal Vascular Reaction to Hand-Grip Stress in Subjects with Vasospasm and Its Relevance in Glaucoma
Gugleta et al.
IOVS 2003;44:1573-1580.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Reliability of Confocal Choroidal Laser Doppler Flowmetry
Gugleta et al.
IOVS 2002;43:723-728.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Vascular Dysregulation in the Choroid of Subjects With Acral Vasospasm
Hasler et al.
Arch Ophthalmol 2002;120:302-307.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT