Ophtalmoplethysmography in ocular blood flow assessment

Abstract

Introduction and purpose. Ocular blood flow (OBF) impairment is observed in more than 50 % of all ocular disorders. There is often an association with systemic hemodynamics. To evaluate ophthalmoplethysmographic parameters in normal subjects taking into account individual frequency-response OBF characteristics. Methods. 251 subjects without ophthalmic pathological findings (except incipient cataract in elderly) were examined using ophtalmoplethysmograph OP-A (SKTB Optimed, Moscow, Russia, calibrated by optimized method). Ocular biometry, intraocular pressure, blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR) were also evaluated. Probands were divided into subgroups by gender and age. Results. The duration of the anacrotic part of the pulse curve ranged between 0.23±0.04 sec and 0.32±0.06 sec; the duration of the catacrotic part of the pulse curve was between 0.58±0.09 sec and 0.75±0.11 sec; the anacrotic/catacrotic ratio ranged between 0.34±0.07 and 0.55±0.1; the systolic increase of ocular anterior segment volume (SIOASV) ranged between 7.35±3.21 μl and 11.15±4.42 μl; SlOASV per minute was between 464.1±153.6 μl and 578.1±175.7 μl. Time characteristics of the plethysmographic curve highly correlate with HR. Conclusions. Ophtalmoplethysmography is a valuable tool for OBF evaluation. Normal OBF ophthalmoplethysmographic parameters vary significantly (ranging between 165.6 and 1388.4 μl/min). OBF evaluation should not be performed without systemic BP and HR examination.