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Dopamine may enhance retinal blood flow

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Intravenously administered dopamine may significantly enhance retinal blood perfusion, according to a study by researchers in Austria.

Karl-Heinz Huemer, PhD, MD, and colleagues at Medical University of Vienna investigated the effect of 5 µg/kg/min and 10 µg/kg/min of intravenous dopamine on retinal and choroidal blood flow in 12 healthy patients. They published their findings in the September issue of British Journal of Ophthalmology.

The researchers found that, after dopamine administration, retinal blood cell velocity and fundus pulsation amplitude significantly increased at dose-dependent rates. At the highest dose, red blood cell velocity had increased by 37% in retinal vessels and fundus pulsation amplitude had increased by 24%, according to the study.

Optic nerve head blood flow did not change, the authors noted.

"Our data indicate that dopamine has a pronounced enhancing effect on the retinal perfusion in humans. Further studies are required to establish the exact role of dopamine in the regulation of choroidal and optic nerve head blood flow," they said.