Abstract
PURPOSE: The study examined the influence of individual blood pressure changes
overtime on retinal vessel diameter and the latter's response to flicker light.
METHODS: The diameter of a retinal arterial and venous segment was measured
continuously on-line with a Dynamic Vessel Analyzer in 20 patients twice (mean
interval between examinations of 24 months). Eleven patients had no
cardiovascular disease. Nine patients had arterial hypertension and were
untreated at the time of the first measurement; at the time of the second
measurement they were undergoing various antihypertensive therapies. Each test
consisted of a 50-s baseline plus three 20-s periods of flicker stimulation
followed by an 80-s period of observation. During the examinations the blood
pressure was measured at 1-minute intervals. RESULTS: In the hypertension group
changes in the mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) correlated significantly with
changes in the arterial baseline diameter (y = -0.1 - 0.37x, r =0.74, p
(increase) <0.03). A comparison of the two measurements showed no such
relationship in the group of cardiovascularly healthy subjects. The venous
baseline and the arterial and venous flicker response did not change
significantly in either group between the two measurements and showed no
relationship to blood pressure changes. CONCLUSIONS: In hypertensive subjects,
long-term therapy-related changes in blood pressure induced a change in the
arterial baseline by approximately +3.7 microm/-10 mmHg MAP. An influence of
lowering MAP to the arterial flicker response could not be detected.
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