Ocular perfusion and age-related macular degeneration.
OBJECTIVE
To review the role of ocular perfusion in the pathophysiology of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the industrialized world.


METHODS
Medline search of the literature published in English or with English abstracts from 1966 to 2000 was performed using various combinations of relevant key words.


RESULTS
Vascular defects have been identified in both nonexudative and exudative AMD patients using fluorescein angiographic methods, laser Doppler flowmetry, indocyanine green angiography, and color Doppler imaging.


CONCLUSIONS
Although these studies lend some support to the vascular pathogenesis of AMD, it is not possible to determine if the choroidal perfusion abnormalities play a causative role in nonexudative AMD, if they are simply an association with another primary alteration, such as a primary RPE defect or a genetic defect at the photoreceptor level, or if they are more strongly associated with one particular form of this heterogeneous disease. Further study is warranted.
Ciulla
T A
TA
Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
Harris
A
A
Martin
B J
BJ
D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D002829:Choroid / Q000098:blood supply; D005123:Eye / Q000098:blood supply*; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010477:Perfusion; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000503:physiopathology