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Blood pressure in ophthalmic, subclavian arteries increases with age
BOSTON — Systolic blood pressure in the ophthalmic artery and systemic blood pressure converge with increasing age, according to a poster presentation at the World Glaucoma Congress here.
Andreas G. Boehm, MD, and colleagues at the University of Dresden, Germany, studied 106 healthy subjects from 10 years old to 70 years old in the prospective cross-sectional study. The subjects were divided into seven age groups by decade, with at least 12 people in each group. The effect of age on diastolic and systolic blood pressure in the ophthalmic artery and vein pulsation pressure were measured by a contact lens dynamometer (Meditron).
Dr. Boehm and colleagues found that blood pressure in both the ophthalmic and subclavian arteries increased in the older age groups. The increase was stronger for the systolic ophthalmic artery pressure than for the subclavian artery pressure. However, differences in diastolic blood pressure increases were similar in both arteries. The authors hypothesized that the differences could be due to increased stiffness in the walls of the carotid and ophthalmic arteries.