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Br J Ophthalmol 1999;83:809-813 doi:10.1136/bjo.83.7.809
  • Original Article
    • Clinical science

Glaucoma patients demonstrate faulty autoregulation of ocular blood flow during posture change

  1. David W Evansa,b,
  2. Alon Harrisa,c,
  3. Melanie Garretta,b,
  4. Hak Sung Chunga,
  5. Larry Kagemanna
  1. aDepartment of Ophthalmology, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA, bDepartment of Vision Sciences, School of Optometry, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA, cDepartment of Physiology and Biophysics, Indiana University. Indianapolis, IN, USA
  1. David W Evans, PhD, University of Alabama, School of Optometry, Department of Optometry, 1716 University Blvd, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
  • Accepted 8 February 1999

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS Autoregulation of blood flow during posture change is important to ensure consistent organ circulation. The purpose of this study was to compare the change in retrobulbar ocular blood flow in glaucoma patients with normal subjects during supine and upright posture.

METHODS 20 open angle glaucoma patients and 20 normal subjects, similar in age and sex distribution, were evaluated. Blood pressure, intraocular pressure, and retrobulbar blood velocity were tested after 30 minutes of sitting and again after 30 minutes of lying. Retrobulbar haemodynamic measures of peak systolic velocity (PSV), end diastolic velocity (EDV), and resistance index (RI) were obtained in the ophthalmic and central retinal arteries using colour Doppler imaging (CDI).

RESULTS When changing from the upright to supine posture, normal subjects demonstrated a significant increase in OA EDV (p = 0.016) and significant decrease in OA RI (p = 0.0006) and CRA RI (p = 0.016). Glaucoma patients demonstrated similar changes in OA measures of EDV (p = 0.02) and RI (p = 0.04), but no change in CRA measures.

CONCLUSION Glaucoma patients exhibit faulty autoregulation of central retinal artery blood flow during posture change.

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