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. 2015 Feb 24;6(1):5.
doi: 10.1186/s13167-015-0027-1. eCollection 2015.

Patients with diabetic retinopathy have high retinal venous pressure

Anna K Cybulska-Heinrich  1 , Michael Baertschi  2 , Cay Christian Loesche  3 , Andreas Schoetzau  2 , Katarzyna Konieczka  2 , Tatjana Josifova  2 , Josef Flammer  2
Affiliations

Patients with diabetic retinopathy have high retinal venous pressure

Anna K Cybulska-Heinrich et al. EPMA J. .

Abstract

Background: The introduction of ophthalmodynamometric measurement of retinal venous pressure (RVP) now permits the quantification, or at least an approximation, of the real pressure in the retinal veins.

Methods: We measured the RVP of healthy control subjects, patients with diabetes without diabetic retinopathy (nonDR) and patients with diabetes and diabetic retinopathy (DR).

Results: The mean ± SD RVP for the control, nonDR and DR groups were 23.4 ± 7.33, 22.5 ± 5.78 and 37.7 ± 10.1 mmHg, respectively. In the diabetes patients with DR, the RVP was markedly and significantly increased, and this result was significantly age dependent. RVP was not increased in the group of diabetes patients without DR. In our tested population, diabetes had a minor influence on intraocular pressure.

Conclusion: Regardless of the cause, a marked increase in RVP in diabetes patients with DR is clinically relevant, as it reduces perfusion pressure and increases transmural pressure. The reduced perfusion pressure contributes to hypoxia, and the increased transmural pressure can facilitate retinal edema. Diabetes is an increasing burden, and DR is one of its most severe complications. Strategies to recognize the risk for DR and to develop personalized prevention and therapy therefore have major implications.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT01771835.

Keywords: Contact lens dynamometer (CLD); Diabetic retinopathy (DR); Ocular dynamic force (ODF); Ophthalmodynamometry; Personalized prevention; Retinal venous pressure (RVP); Spontaneous venous pulsation.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Dependence of IOP on age for each study group (unmatched data). Scatter plot of the IOP (mmHg) of each study group (unmatched data) plotted versus the age (years) of the subjects. Straight lines indicate regression slopes. Black circle control group, red triangle nonDR group, green cross DR group. In all of the groups, IOP had only a very slight tendency to increase with age.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Dependence of RVP on age for each study group (unmatched data). Scatter plot of the RVP (mmHg) of each study group (unmatched data) plotted versus the age (years) of the subjects. Straight lines indicate regression slopes. Black circle control group, red triangle nonDR group, green cross DR group. RVP increased markedly in patients with DR, but not in diabetes patients without DR.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Dependence of IOP on age for each study group (age-matched data). Scatter plot of the IOP (mmHg) of each study group (matched data) plotted versus the age (years) of the subjects. Regression line is not shown as the slope was not significantly different from zero. Black circle control group, red triangle nonDR group, green cross DR group.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Dependence of RVP on age for each study group (age-matched data). Scatter plot of the RVP (mmHg) of each study group (matched data) plotted versus the age (years) of the subjects. Regression line is not shown as the slope was not significantly different from zero. Black circle control group, red triangle nonDR group, green cross DR group.
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