title: Contact lens dynamometry: the influence of age.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the influence of age on systolic (systOAP) and diastolic (diastOAP) blood pressure in the ophthalmic artery (OA) measured by a new contact lens dynamometer (CLD).
  
  
  METHODS
  In a prospective cross-sectional clinical trial, 106 eyes of 106 patients (58 women, 48 men) were examined. A nearly uniform age distribution was achieved by recruiting subjects in seven age groups, with at least 12 in each decade. Blood pressure in the OA was measured with a new CLD. Arterial blood pressure at the upper arm was measured by cuff, according to the Riva-Rocci (RR) METHOD: Main outcome measures were: SystOAP and diastOAP in the OA and systolic (systRR) and diastolic (diastRR) pressures in the subclavian artery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The blood pressures showed the following linear regression equations in association with age: systRR (mm Hg) = 115 + 0.45 × age (years) (R = 0.50; P < 0.00001); diastRR (mm Hg) = 72 + 0.28 × age (years) (R = 0.42; P < 0.00001); systOAP (mm Hg) = 61 + 0.93 × age (years) (R = 0.74; P < 0.0001); and diastOAP (mm Hg) = 44 + 0.37 × age (years) (R = 0.57; P < 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The relative slopes of the regression lines relating age to diastolic and systolic pressures are steeper in the ophthalmic than in the subclavian artery, indicating that the pressures in the ophthalmic artery increase faster with age than do the associated pressures in the subclavian artery, as measured by the standard sphygmomanometry. This phenomenon may be explained by progressive stiffening of the walls in the carotid and ophthalmic arteries. The effect of age should be taken into account whenever interpreting ophthalmodynamometric measurements for clinical diagnostic purposes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Dresden, Dresden, Germany. stodtmeister@t-online.de
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stodtmeister
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oppitz
authors.forename: Eberhard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Spoerl
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haustein
authors.forename: Andreas G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Boehm
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D003261:Contact Lenses; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009880:Ophthalmic Artery / Q000502:physiology*; D009884:Ophthalmodynamometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult