COLOR DOPPLER ANALYSIS OF THE CHOROIDAL CIRCULATION IN CHRONIC OPEN-ANGLE GLAUCOMA

Purpose: To assess any alteration of the blood flow in the ophthalmic artery, in the posterior ciliary arteries and in the choroid of the gl aucomatous eye, Methods: We studied 15 patients, 11 males and 4 female s (mean age 62.4 years), with chronic open-angle glaucoma in good tono metric control by medical therapy. All patients underwent colour Doppl er examination of the ophthalmic artery, posterior ciliary artery and choroid. The data for peal; systolic velocity (Pv) and resistance inde x (RI) were compared with those of healthy control subjects. Results: The Pv in the ophthalmic artery of glaucomatous patients was 32.961+/- 3.045 cm/s (P<0.033) and RI 0.789+/-0.018 (p<0.002. The Pv of posterio r ciliary arteries was 8.720+/-1.645 cm/s (p<0.001) and RI 0.722+/-0.0 24 (p<0.005). In the choroid the Pv was 10.637+/-1.401 cm/s (p<0.001) and RI 0.643+/-0.051 (p<0,022). Conclusions: Our data indicate that in a chronic open-angle glaucoma there is an alteration in the eye blood flow especially in the posterior ciliary arteries and the choroid.