Abstract
Purpose: :
Ocular Pulse Amplitude (OPA) is an indirect measure of the choroidal perfusion. It includes a pulsatile component due to heart pulse as a function over time. Furthermore, there is evidence that the OPA may play a role in diagnosing diseases (e.g. glaucoma, arteriosclerosis); however it is not yet clear if other systemic parameters may influence OPA. We investigated OPA in healthy volunteers of different age groups.
Methods: :
402 consecutive patients from a health screening program for company employees were examined. The examined subjects ranged in age from 25 to 66 years. OPA was measured using PASCAL Dynamic Contour Tonometer (DCT) and blood pressure by standard cuff measurements. Parametric testing for Pearson correlation coefficients was applied.
Results: :
Age was significantly correlated to mean arterial pressure (MAP) (p < 0.05). OPA was significantly correlated to age and MAP (p < 0.05). When stratifying for right and left eyes no statistical difference could be found between OPA and laterality of the eye (p > 0.05).
Conclusions: :
With increasing age an increase in blood pressure is well known, however the influence of age on OPA in a healthy population has not yet been examined. We found an increase of OPA with increasing age. This could be an expression of increased stiffness of the input vasculature or of the choroidal vasculature itself. If OPA is used to describe the influence of other diseases, age has to be taken into account.
Keywords: aging • blood supply • choroid