Reproducibility and clinical application of a newly developed stabilized retinal laser Doppler instrument

Abstract

In the article by Yoshida and Associates (Am J Ophthalmol 2003;135:356–361), the authors describe a new instrument to measure blood flow in retinal arteries and veins. We are puzzled by the cited references, which are somewhat misleading for an article that focuses mainly on the methodology and reproducibility of a new variant of a known technique and gives some examples of measurements in patients with glaucoma and retinal vein occlusion. In the introduction, different methods for ocular blood flow measurements are mentioned that can be applied to the different oculovascular subsystems. However, many references (that is, references 1–3, 7, 8) are referring to clinical studies using them and not to the original descriptions of the techniques, which would be more helpful to the reader of this article to position the novelties of this instrument compared with those of others. The first publication 1 Riva C.E. Ross B. Benedek G.B. Laser Doppler measurements of blood flow in capillary tubes and retinal vessels. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1972; 11: 936-944 Google Scholar of the laser Doppler velocimetry technique applied to the eye dates back to 1972, and the first description of the fundus camera-based laser Doppler velocimetry was published by Riva and associates in 1981. 2 Riva C.E. Grunwald J.E. Sinclair S.H. O’Keefe K. Fundus camera based retinal laser Doppler velocimeter. Appl Opt. 1981; 20: 117-120 Crossref PubMed Scopus (110) Google Scholar The same author also presented, for the first time, the laser Doppler flowmetry technique that allows assessment of tissue blood flow parameters in the human optic nerve head 3 Riva C.E. Harino S. Petrig B.L. Shonat R.D. Laser Doppler flowmetry in the optic nerve. Exp Eye Res. 1992; 55: 499-506 Crossref PubMed Scopus (220) Google Scholar and choroidal circulations. 4 Riva C.E. Cranstoun S.D. Grunwald J.E. Petrig B.L. Choroidal blood flow in the foveal region of the human ocular fundus. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1994; 35: 4273-4281 PubMed Google Scholar