Tracing method in the assessment of retinal capillary blood flow velocity by fluorescein angiography with scanning laser ophthalmoscope.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the feasibility of a new method (the tracing method) for measuring perifoveal capillary blood flow velocity (BFV).


METHODS
The BFV in the perifoveal capillaries was measured in 12 eyes of healthy subjects and 12 eyes of patients with clinically significant macular edema (CSME) by fluorescein angiography using a scanning laser ophthalmoscope by either the tracing method or the conventional method. A randomized crossover design was employed to assign the subjects to each method.


RESULTS
The number of capillaries recognized by the tracing method in healthy subjects and in patients with CSME was significantly higher than that recognized with the conventional method (P = 0.0134 and P = 0.0108, respectively). The number of fluorescent dots detected by the tracing method in healthy subjects and in patients with CSME was also significantly higher than that detected with the conventional method (P = 0.0002 and P = 0.0137, respectively). Accurate detection of the movement of fluorescent dots and analysis of BFV were possible with the tracing method. The BFV varied within each perifoveal capillary, and the mean BFV also varied according to capillary location in the macula.


CONCLUSIONS
The new tracing method is useful for analyzing the retinal capillary BFV in healthy subjects and in patients with CSME.
Funatsu
Hideharu
H
Department of Ophthalmology, Diabetes Center, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo, Japan. tfunatsu@nifty.com
Sakata
Kumi
K
Harino
Seiyo
S
Okuzawa
Yukio
Y
Noma
Hidetaka
H
Hori
Sadao
S
D000368:Aged; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D002196:Capillaries / Q000502:physiology; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009887:Ophthalmoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000502:physiology*