Differences in optic nerve head microcirculation between evening and morning in patients with coronary artery disease.

Purpose: To determine whether differences or variation of blood flow in the ONH are independent risk factors for CAD.

Methods: We studied 144 consecutive patients whose ocular blood flow in the ONH was measured in the evening and morning by LSFG. We analyzed the MBR throughout the ONH (MBR-A) and in the tissue (MBR-T) and vessels (MBR-V) in the ONH. We also evaluated the MBR-T, MBR-V, and MBR-A values obtained in the evening and morning and the variation (Δ) between evening and morning values in each group.

Results: Twenty-three patients (16%) were diagnosed with CAD. The morning MBR-T and MBR-A values were significantly lower in these patients with CAD compared to the patients without CAD. ΔMBR-T in the CAD patients was significantly lower compared to that of the no-CAD patients. The logistic regression analysis was revealed that a high carotid artery plaque score, lower ΔDBP, and ΔMBR-T were identified as risk factors for CAD.

Conclusions: Ocular microcirculation obtained from LSFG may provide a window for detecting changes in microvasculature related to CAD.