Diabetic patients with coronary artery disease have decrease in ocular blood flow velocities

A decrease in ocular blood flow velocities in the diastolic phase for diabetic patients with coronary artery disease could be related to a decrease in cardiac output, according to researchers.

Sayuri Fujioka and colleagues evaluated the ocular circulation in diabetic patients with coronary artery disease. They examined 30 diabetic patients who had diabetic retinopathy of grade 20 or 35 and also examined 15 healthy controls. The diabetic patients were divided evenly between two groups based on whether they had coronary artery disease. All patients underwent standard ophthalmic examinations and orbital color Doppler imaging.

Researchers found that peak systolic velocity in the central retinal artery was significantly lower in both diabetic groups. End-diastolic velocity in the central retinal artery was only lower in diabetic patients with coronary artery disease.

“There were no significant intergroup differences in blood flow velocities in the ophthalmic artery, short posterior ciliary artery and central retinal vein. The blood flow waves were flattened in the diastolic phase for all orbital arteries in significantly more eyes in the diabetic patients with coronary artery disease,” they stated.

The study was published in the February issue of Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.