Comparing Intraocular Pressure, Ocular Blood Flow, and Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in Early and Chronic Hypertensives With Normotensives.

Purpose: To compare blood pressure (BP), intraocular pressure (IOP), ophthalmic artery flow (OAF) velocity, retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, and visual fields in newly diagnosed hypertension (HT) patients (before treatment), chronic HT (on antihypertensive medications >5 years) and normotensives.

Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study at a tertiary care centre in India. Three groups of 45 patients each: group 1 - early HT, group 2 - chronic HT, and Group 3 - normotensives, underwent evaluation of BP, IOP by Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT), OAF velocity by transcranial doppler (TCD), RNFL analysis by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), and visual fields.