title: Blood-Flow Velocity in Glaucoma Patients Measured with the Retinal Function Imager.
abstract: Circulatory abnormalities in the retina, optic nerve and choroid have been detected by various technologies in glaucoma patients. However, there is no clear understanding of the role of blood flow in glaucoma. The purpose of this study was to compare retinal blood-flow velocities using the retinal function imager (RFI) between glaucoma and healthy subjects.
  
  
  
  Fifty-nine eyes of 46 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), 51 eyes of 31 healthy individuals and 28 eyes of 23 patients with glaucomatous optic neuropathy (GON) but normal perimetry were recruited for this study. Three eyes of 2 patients in the glaucoma group and 2 eyes of 1 patient in the GON group had normal pressure at the time of diagnosis. Eighty-three percent of the glaucoma patients and 73% of the patients in the GON group were treated with anti-glaucoma medications. All patients were scanned by the RFI. Differences among groups were assessed by mixed linear models.
  
  
  
  The average venous velocity in the GON group (3.8 mm/s) was significantly faster than in the glaucoma (3.3 mm/s, p = 0.03) and healthy (3.0 mm/s, p = 0.005) groups. The arterial velocity in the GON group was not different from any of the other study groups (4.7 mm/s). The arterial and venous velocity in the POAG eyes was not different than in the healthy eyes (arterial: 4.3 versus 4.2 mm/s, p = 0.7; venous: 3.3 versus 3.0 mm/s, p = 0.3). A subgroup of 13 glaucoma patients who had perimetric glaucoma in 1 eye and normal visual field (VF) in the fellow eye showed a trend of lower velocity in the glaucoma eyes.
  
  
  
  Changes in retinal blood-flow velocity were detected only in the pre-perimetric state, but not in perimetric glaucoma. These findings might represent early dysregulation in the retinal vasculature.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Ophthalmology , The Edith Wolfson Medical Center , Holon , Israel.|b Sackler Faculty of Medicine , Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv , Israel.
authors.forename: Zvia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Burgansky-Eliash
authors.affiliation: a Department of Ophthalmology , The Edith Wolfson Medical Center , Holon , Israel.|b Sackler Faculty of Medicine , Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv , Israel.
authors.forename: Elisha
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bartov
authors.affiliation: b Sackler Faculty of Medicine , Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv , Israel.|c Department of Ophthalmology , Tel-Aviv Medical Center , Tel Aviv , Israel.
authors.forename: Adiel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barak
authors.affiliation: d Department of Neurobiology , Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot , Israel.
authors.forename: Amiram
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grinvald
authors.affiliation: b Sackler Faculty of Medicine , Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv , Israel.|e Department of Ophthalmology, Rabin Medical Center , Petah Tikva , Israel.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gaton
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000098:blood supply*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000502:physiology*; D012160:Retina / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012161:Retinal Artery / Q000503:physiopathology; D012169:Retinal Vein / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: Asymmetric glaucoma; blood-flow velocity; glaucomatous optic neuropathy; retinal arteries; retinal veins