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Retinal vascular diameter in young subjects with a vasospastic propensity

Branca, Fabrizio ; Orgül, Selim ; Zawinka, Claudia ; Reinhard, Graziella ; Flammer, Josef

In: Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, 2006, vol. 244, no. 4, p. 454-459

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    Titre
    • Retinal vascular diameter in young subjects with a vasospastic propensity
    Auteur
    • Branca, Fabrizio. University Eye Clinic of Basel, Mittlere Strasse 91, P.O Box 4012, Basle, Switzerland
    • Orgül, Selim. University Eye Clinic of Basel, Mittlere Strasse 91, P.O Box 4012, Basle, Switzerland
    • Zawinka, Claudia. University Eye Clinic of Basel, Mittlere Strasse 91, P.O Box 4012, Basle, Switzerland
    • Reinhard, Graziella. University Eye Clinic of Basel, Mittlere Strasse 91, P.O Box 4012, Basle, Switzerland
    • Flammer, Josef. University Eye Clinic of Basel, Mittlere Strasse 91, P.O Box 4012, Basle, Switzerland
    Type de document
    • Postprint
    Langue
    • Anglais
    Publié dans
    • Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, 2006, vol. 244, no. 4, p. 454-459. Springer-Verlag
    Autre version électronique
    Identifiant OAI-PMH
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:320449
    Summary
    Purpose: Retinal vascular diameters have recently been shown not to be related to an increased risk of open-angle glaucoma. Because vasospastic propensity has been suggested to represent a risk factor for various ocular diseases, especially glaucoma, the steady-state retinal vascular diameter in subjects with a propensity for systemic vascular dysregulation was compared with a group of age-matched gender-matched controls. Methods: Thirty healthy non-smoking individuals [female/male 26/4; mean±SD age 22.8±3.4 (range 18-31) years] were enrolled into the study. Subjects were classified as having vasospasm (15 subjects) if they related a clear history of frequently cold hands and as healthy subjects (15 subjects) if they denied such a history. Vasospastic propensity or the absence of it had to be confirmed by nail-fold capillaroscopy. Vascular diameter of retinal vessels was measured repeatedly on two days with the retinal vessel analyser and corrected for perfusion pressure, age, and refraction. Results: Neither retinal arteriole diameter (P=0.30) or retinal venule diameter (P=0.49), nor retinal arteriole-to-venule ratio (P=0.96), differed between the two experimental groups. Conclusions: Although vasospastic propensity has been suggested to represent a risk factor in various ocular diseases, the steady-state retinal vessel diameters are not altered in healthy vasospastic subjects. It is probable that the steady-state retinal vessel diameters are no adequate risk indicators for the haemodynamic risk in diseases such as glaucoma