Color Doppler imaging and spectral analysis of the optic nerve vasculature in glaucoma.

Purpose: We used color Doppler imaging to study blood flow velocity in the central retinal artery and the short posterior ciliary arteries in patients with glaucoma.

Method: Fifty-two patients with chronic open-angle glaucoma, 24 patients with normal-tension glaucoma, and 28 normal subjects were studied. The mean of the peak systolic velocity, the end diastolic velocity, and the resistive index were compared in the three groups.

Results: Compared with the normal subjects, the patients with chronic open-angle glaucoma showed a statistically significant (P < .05) decrease in the mean end diastolic velocity and an increase in the mean resistive index in all vessels studied. The patients with normal-tension glaucoma showed similar changes, achieving significance most prominently in the central retinal arteries, compared with normal subjects (P < .05). There were no statistically significant differences between the patients with chronic open-angle glaucoma and those with normal-tension glaucoma.

Conclusions: Open-angle glaucoma appears to be associated with a decreased mean flow velocity and an increased mean resistive index in the ocular vasculature. These changes are in keeping with possibly compromised circulation in this region.