Retinal Blood Flow Measurement in Patients with Unilateral Internal Carotid Artery Obstruction

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To evaluate the autoregulation of retinal blood flow, in patients with unilateral carotid artery obstruction. METHODS: In patients with unilateral carotid artery obstruction confirmed by carotid Doppler, magnetic resonance angiography, or transfemoral carotid angiography, retinal blood flow in both eyes was measured using Heidelberg retina flowmeter (HRF), and compared. Patients with other ocular disease such as ocular ischemic syndrome were excluded. RESULTS: There is no statistically significant difference in total mean blood flow of retina between each eyes of 5 patients with unilateral carotid artery obstruction (0.1) CONCLUSIONS: It was demonstrated that retinal blood flow autoregulation was maintained in case of chronically decreased blood flow such as internal carotid artery obstruction.