Abstract
Purpose: :
Impaired perfusion of the peripapillary choroid is thought to play a role in the progression of glaucomatous optic neuropathy. The present work investigates perfusion in the long and short posterior ciliary artery in a large cohort.
Methods: :
N=298 glaucoma patients and N=86 control subjects were examined in a resting, upright position by color Doppler imaging. A Siemens Elegra device with a 7.5L40 ultrasound transducer was used. The peak systolic velocity (PSV), the end-diastolic velocity (EDV), and the resistivity index (RI) were measured in the short posterior ciliary artery (SPCA) and the long posterior ciliary artery (LPCA).
Results: :
SPCA/PSV: 10.0+/-1.1 in controls vs. 8.9+/-1.2 cms-1 in glaucoma patients (P<0.05)SPCA/EDV: 2.4+/-1.9 in controls vs. 2.2+/-0.9 cms-1 in glaucoma patients (P=0.191)SPCA/RI: 0.76+/-0.00 in controls vs. 0.76+/-0.02 in glaucoma patients (P=0.956)LPCA/PSV: 13.4+/-1.5 in controls vs. 14.4+/-1.2cms-1 in glaucoma patients (P=0.357)LPCA/EDV: 3.3+/-1.8 in controls vs. 3.1+/-0.8cms-1 in glaucoma patients (P=0.698)LPCA/RI: 0.76+/-0.01 in controls vs. 0.78+/-0.01 in glaucoma patients (P=0.223)
Conclusions: :
In the PSV of the SPCA a slight, but statistically significant difference was observed. No further differences were identified. The difference is less pronounced than in previous work of our group were ocular autoregulation was challenged, eg, by posture change or by flicker light stimulation, which underlines the relevance of such methods for diagnostic and scientific purposes in glaucoma patients.
Keywords: blood supply • choroid • optic nerve