Abstract
Purpose: :
The ocular pulse amplitude (OPA) may be considered as an estimate of ocular blood flow. In this study we measured OPA in eyes before and after cataract surgery and correlated changes of OPA with those of intraocular pressure.
Methods: :
Forty-three patients with cataract were included in a prospective study. IOP was measured by means of Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT) and dynamic contour tonometry (DCT, Pascal®, SMT Swiss Microtechnology AG, Switzerland) before and one day after cataract surgery. OPA was measured with same device at the same moment.
Results: :
In most patients (n =31) cataract surgery resulted in a significant decrease of IOP (before 17.4 ± 4.9, after 12.7 ±4.6 mm Hg). Thirteen patients had an increase of IOP at the first postoperative day (before 15.4 ± 7.2, after 22 ± 7.2 mm Hg). OPA decreased significantly in the group with the lowered IOP (before 2.55 ± 1.57, after 2.09 ± 1.12 mmHg) and increased in the group with rise of IOP (before 3.11 ± 1.8, after 4.17 ± 2.3 mm Hg). For the total sample changes of OPA were positively correlated with changes of IOP (r = 0.48).
Conclusions: :
The ocular pulse amplitude measured with the Pascal® device seems to be strongly dependant on the intraocular pressure and pressure changes. Thus, particular caution should be taken in the interpretation of trials with antiglaucomatous therapy.
Keywords: intraocular pressure • blood supply