Characteristics of systemic and regional hemodynamics in ischemic retinal vein occlusion in young and middle-aged adults

Abstract

Introduction and purpose. Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) accounts for 60 % of cases of all acute vascular ophthalmic events with a global prevalence of 0.2-2 %. Lately, the RVO prevalence in young adults steadily increases. Impair-ments of ocular hemodynamics are considered to be its leading risk factors, and ocular blood flow depends on systemic hemodynamic condition. To evaluate the relation between systemic hemodynamics and ocular blood flow in RVO in young and middle-aged adults. Methods. The study included 18 patients with RVO and 30 persons without ophthalmic pathological findings. In all patients, routine ophthalmic examination was performed, as well as an additional ocular blood flow assessment (ophthalmoplethysmography, ophthalmorheography, ophthalmosphygmography, and fluorescein angiography [FA]). 24-hour blood pressure (BP) monitoring was performed to estimate systemic hemodynamics. Results and discussion. Statistically significant differences (p 0.7 and r>0.2). FA showed zones of peripheral retinal ischemia with a mean area of 159.02 mm 2 . A relation between evaluated parameters and those of 24-hour BP monitoring was not found. However, non-dippers showed a tendency towards a lower hemodynamic parameters and increased choroidal thickness. Conclusions. In young and middle-aged patients, predominantly ischemic RVO occurs, with specific peripheral localization of retinal ischemia. In patients before the age of 50, one of the main risk factors for peripheral ischemic RVO is the ocular blood flow impairment. A positive correlation was established between the ocular blood flow and the pattern of choroidal thickness changes. It is suggested that most significant ocular blood flow changes are typical for non-dippers.