Randomized controlled trial of electro-stimulation therapies to modulate retinal blood flow and visual function in retinitis pigmentosa.

Purpose: We examined changes in visual function and ocular and retinal blood flow (RBF) among retinitis pigmentosa (RP) participants in a randomized controlled trial of electro-stimulation therapies.

Methods: Twenty-one RP participants were randomized (1:1:1) to transcorneal electrical stimulation (TES) at 6 weekly half-hour sessions, electro-acupuncture or inactive laser acupuncture (sham control) at 10 half-hour sessions over 2 weeks. Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) visual acuity (VA), quick contrast sensitivity function, Goldmann visual fields, AdaptDx scotopic sensitivity, spectral flow and colour Doppler imaging of the central retinal artery (CRA), and RBF in macular capillaries were measured twice pre-treatment, after 2 TES sessions, within a week and a month after intervention completion.

Reduced Central Retinal Artery Blood Flow Is Related to Impaired Central Visual Function in Retinitis Pigmentosa Patients.

Purpose: We evaluated the test-retest repeatability of blood flow velocities in the retrobulbar central retinal artery (CRA) and explored whether reduced blood flow is related to the degree of visual function loss in retinitis pigmentosa (RP) patients with wide range of disease severity.

Materials And Methods: We measured CRA peak systolic velocity (PSV) and end diastolic velocity (EDV) to calculate mean flow velocity (MFV) in 18 RP patients using color Doppler imaging with spectral flow Doppler (GE Logiq7 ultrasound) twice in each eye at each of two visits within a month. At each of these two visits, we measured ETDRS visual acuity (VA), quick Contrast Sensitivity Function (qCSF), Goldmann visual fields (GVF), 10-2 Humphrey visual fields (HVF), and dark-adaptation at 5° from fixation with the AdaptDx; multifocal electroretinography (mfERG) was obtained at a single visit.