Functional Examination of Retinal Vessels in Patients with Central Retinal Vein Occlusion

Overview

Retina vessel analyzer (RVA) provides the functional examination of retinal vessels based on the analysis of the extent (size) of their dilation and constriction. The RVA measures continuously on-line the diameter of retinal arteries and veins after different kind of stimulation. Beyond dynamic vessel analysis, another possibility of the RVA’s utilization is a static vessel assessment, measuring the arterial and venous diameter ratio (A/V ratio), which provides the information about the rate of arterial vasoconstriction.

The aim of the presented study was to investigate static and dynamic retinal vessel changes in patients with central retinal vein occlusion (Group 1). The second investigated group consists of patients with arterial hypertension; as a control group, healthy persons without any vascular disease were examined. Altogether 40 eyes were examined.

Statistically significant differences of A/V ratio were observed in the static vessel analysis in all three investigated groups. The dynamic analysis showed statistically significant differences in arterial dilatation and constriction between all investigated groups as well.

The presented results confirm that the degree of retinal vessels endothelial dysfunction is one of the determinating ethiopathological factors of central retinal vein occlusion.

Key words:
retinal vessel analyzer, central retinal vein occlusion, endothelial dysfunction, vasodilatation and vasoconstriction