Retinal oxygen saturation is altered in diabetic retinopathy.

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field. AIM: Retinal oxygen metabolism is thought to be affected in diabetic retinopathy. The aim of this study was to test whether retinal vessel oxygen saturation is different in patients with d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British Journal of Ophthalmology
Main Authors: Hardarson, Sveinn Hakon, Stefánsson, Einar
Other Authors: Department of Ophthalmology, LandspítalidUniversity Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2012
Subjects:
Adult
Diabetic Retinopathy
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Male
Microcirculation
Middle Aged
Oximetry
Oxygen
Oxygen Consumption
Retina
Iceland
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2336/238392
https://doi.org/10.1136/bjophthalmol-2011-300640
Description
Summary:To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field. AIM: Retinal oxygen metabolism is thought to be affected in diabetic retinopathy. The aim of this study was to test whether retinal vessel oxygen saturation is different in patients with diabetic retinopathy from that in healthy controls. METHODS: The retinal oximeter is based on a fundus camera. It estimates retinal vessel oxygen saturation from light absorbance at 586 nm and 605 nm. Retinal vessel oxygen saturation was measured in one major temporal retinal arteriole and venule in healthy volunteers and in patients with diabetic retinopathy. RESULTS: Oxygen saturation in the retinal arterioles of healthy volunteers was 93 ± 4% and 58 ± 6% in venules (mean ± SD, n=31). The corresponding values for all diabetic patients (n=20) were 101 ± 5% and 68 ± 7%. The difference between healthy volunteers and diabetic patients was statistically significant (p < 0.001 for arterioles and venules). Three subgroups of diabetic patients (background retinopathy, macular oedema and pre-proliferative/proliferative retinopathy) all had higher saturation values than the healthy volunteers (p < 0.05 for arterioles and venules). CONCLUSION: Retinal vessel oxygen saturation is higher in patients with diabetic retinopathy than in healthy controls. Possible explanations include shunting of blood through preferential channels, bypassing non-perfused capillaries in the capillary network. Parts of the retinal tissue may be hypoxic while blood in larger vessels has high oxygen saturation Icelandic Centre for Research (Rannis), Eimskip University, Univ. of Iceland, Landspitali-University Hospital

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