Premium
Retinal oximetry in diabetic retinopathy
Author(s) -
BEK T
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2014.3715.x
Subject(s) - retinal , diabetic retinopathy , medicine , ophthalmology , oxygen saturation , oxygenation , retinopathy , maculopathy , retina , diabetes mellitus , oxygen , endocrinology , biology , chemistry , organic chemistry , neuroscience
Background: Diabetic retinopathy is accompanied by disturbances in retinal blood flow, but the consequent changes in oxygenation of the retinal tissue have not been studied in detail. The advent of retinal oximetry for assessing the oxygen saturation in retinal vessels has enabled the study of changes in retinal oxygen saturation during the progression and after treatment of the disease. Methods: 71 patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy and 149 with diabetic maculopathy were subjected to retinal oximetry of the larger retinal arterioles and venules before, immediately after and three months after retinal photocoagulation. Results: Before treatment the oxygen saturation was significantly increased, both in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy and diabetic maculopathy. The oxygen saturation was unchanged immediately after treatment, but had further increased three months after treatment. Conclusion: Disturbances in retinal oxygen saturation in diabetic patients are complex and may be due to changes in blood flow, oxygen extraction and regional variations in blood flow. Retinal photocoagulation in diabetic retinopathy does not exert its effect by normalizing retinal oxygenation.