Blood flow disturbances in the central retinal artery in patients with bilateral optic disc drusen

Iwona Obuchowska,Andrzej Ustymowicz

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-68090-3

Iwona Obuchowska, Andrzej Ustymowicz

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68090-3

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Journal: Scientific Reports	Publication Date: Jul 6, 2020
Citations: 5	License type: open-access

Affiliation: Medical University of Białystok

Abstract

To evaluate retrobulbar hemodynamics in patients with optic disc drusen (ODD) by color Doppler imaging. A prospective study included 52 patients with bilateral ODD and 50 age-matched controls. Blood flow in the central retinal artery (CRA) in both eyes was evaluated. Peak-systolic velocity (PSV), end-diastolic velocity (EDV), and the resistivity index (RI) were measured. Mean values of the blood flow Doppler parameters were compared between the patients with ODD and the controls. Both PSV and EDV in the CRA were significantly lower in patients with ODD than in the controls (p < 0.001). The RI in the CRA of ODD patients was significantly higher than in the controls (p < 0.001). Women with ODD presented with significantly lower values of PSV and EDV than men (p = 0.05 and p = 0.03, respectively). Arterial hypertension, cigarette smoking and location of ODD in the left or right eye did not exert a significant effect on the blood flow in the CRA. Blood flow in the CRA is considerably disturbed in patients with ODD. This disturbance might result from mechanical stenosis of the vascular wall caused by the drusen. Color Doppler ultrasound is a useful method in the assessment of retrobulbar hemodynamics in ODD.

Highlights

To evaluate retrobulbar hemodynamics in patients with optic disc drusen (ODD) by color Doppler imaging
The patients with ODD presented with significantly lower values of Peak-systolic velocity (PSV) and end-diastolic velocity (EDV) in the central retinal artery (CRA) and significantly higher values of resistivity index (RI) than the controls (Fig. 1)
No statistically significant between-group differences were observed in terms of age, intraocular pressure (IOP), SBP and DBP determined at the time of the Doppler imaging, PPI and OPP (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

To evaluate retrobulbar hemodynamics in patients with optic disc drusen (ODD) by color Doppler imaging. Current evidence suggests that optic nerve damage in patients with ODD may result from disturbances in the axonal flow These disturbances may be a consequence of (1) improper axonal metabolism in the ganglion cells[3,4]; (2) direct compression of the drusen on the optic nerve fibers in the prelaminar part of the scleral canal[1,2,3,18]; and (3) ischemia of the optic nerve head caused by vascular a bnormalities[1,2,6,19]. We used color Doppler ultrasonography to verify whether the presence of ODD was associated with blood flow disturbances in the central retinal artery (CRA) and to determine a character of the retrobulbar

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Conclusion