Hyperemic responses of the optic nerve head blood flow to chromatic equiluminant flicker are reduced by ocular hypertension and early glaucoma

Benedetto Falsini; Charles E. Riva; Tommaso Salgarello; Eric Logean; Alberto Colotto; Andrea Giudiceandrea

doi:10.1117/1.OE.53.6.061706

31 January 2014 Hyperemic responses of the optic nerve head blood flow to chromatic equiluminant flicker are reduced by ocular hypertension and early glaucoma

Benedetto Falsini, Charles E. Riva, Tommaso Salgarello, Eric Logean, Alberto Colotto, Andrea Giudiceandrea

Author Affiliations +

Optical Engineering, Vol. 53, Issue 6, 061706 (January 2014). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.53.6.061706

Abstract

We evaluated in ocular hypertension (OHT) and early glaucoma (EOAG) patients the optic nerve head (ONH) blood flow response (RF _onh ) to chromatic equiluminant flicker. This stimulus generates neural activity dominated by the parvo-cellular system. Eleven EOAG, 20 OHT patients, and 8 age-matched control subjects were examined. The blood flow (F _onh ) at the neuroretinal rim was continuously monitored by laser Doppler flowmetry before, during, and after a 60-s exposure to a 4 Hz, red-green equiluminant flicker stimulus (30 deg field). RF _onh was expressed as percentage F _onh -change during the last 20 s of flicker relative to baseline F _onh . Responses were collected at a number of temporal sites. The highest RF _onh value was used for subsequent analysis. As compared to controls, both OHT and EOAG patients showed a decrease (p<0.01 ) in mean RF _onh . We conclude that RF_onh elicited by chromatic equiluminant flicker is abnormally reduced in OHT and EOAG patients indicating an impairment of the parvo-cellular-mediated vasoactivity. This decrease of vascular response may occur independently of neural activity loss early in the disease process.

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Benedetto Falsini, Charles E. Riva, Tommaso Salgarello, Eric Logean, Alberto Colotto, and Andrea Giudiceandrea "Hyperemic responses of the optic nerve head blood flow to chromatic equiluminant flicker are reduced by ocular hypertension and early glaucoma," Optical Engineering 53(6), 061706 (31 January 2014). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.53.6.061706

Published: 31 January 2014

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