INTRAOCULAR PERFUSION PRESSURE AS A METHOD TO ASSESS THE OCULAR CIRCULATORY IMPAIRMENT IN OPEN ANGLE GLAUCOMA

BACKGROUND: Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG) is an eye disorder that affects the optic nerve (ON) with progressive damage to full eye sight loss, being associated, but not always,with high intraocular pressure (IOP). The perfusion pressure is an estimate of the real ocular blood perfusion pressure and could assess the ocular regional blood flow regulation. Establishing the ocular perfusion pressure could lead to a better insight for progression of POAG. METHODS: Byinvestigating a 24 POAG patients group in one year time frame, data has been collected for: blood arterial pressure, IOP, treatment and specific POAG retina modifications before and after surgery(trabeculectomy). RESULTS: After surgery, IOP registers a sudden drop in value only to rise up again modestly at the end of the study period (1 year). A dramatic improvement for the perfusion can be seen in the 2 weeks after surgery (up to 73 mmHg) only to drop after 6 months still at a normal value (58 mmHg) CONCLUSIONS: Estimated ocular perfusion pressure seams to offer a satisfactory assessment for the ocular and retinal vascular status. The sudden drop of the IOPafter trabeculectomy contributes to a dramatic increase in the ocular perfusion pressure