Vascular changes in the retina in patients with chronic respiratory insufficiency

Chronic respiratory insufficiency is a pathological state which occurs as a result of respiratory system inability to maintain normal gas exchange between the outside air and circulating blood. For the purposes of human organism's proper functioning, it is necessary that a certain amount of air in the lungs comes into contact with a certain amount of blood within a unit of time, so that an adequate hemoglobin oxygenation could be achieved. Then, hemoglobin from erythrocytes in the blood supply delivers oxygen to all the tissues and cells of the body including the eye. Direct impact of hypoxemia and hypercapnia on the wall of arterioles, venules and capillaries results in a severe vasodilatation along with the increased permeability of the walls causing clinically evident changes in the retina. The aim of this study was to determine the degree of ocular changes in retina with patients suffering from chronic respiratory insufficiency.