Purpose
To investigate retinal microcirculation changes in patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD).Methods
The tissue blood flow in the macular area was measured in 28 patients with RRD without macular involvement by scanning laser Doppler flowmetry before and after scleral buckling procedures. The mean blood flow (MBF) was calculated by the automatic full-field analysis program. The MBF ratios of the affected eye to the fellow eye (a/f ratio) in patients were compared with those of the right eye to the left eye (R/L ratio) in the control subjects.Results
The mean preoperative a/f ratio in the patients (0.81 ± 0.11) was lower than the mean R/L ratio in the control subjects (1.02 ± 0.11, P < 0.0001) and correlated with the extent of RRD (P < 0.05). The mean a/f ratio tended to decrease 2 weeks after surgery (0.72 ± 0.09) and recovered to an almost normal level after 1 month (0.96 ± 0.09). The blood-flow change was not influenced by the type of buckling.Conclusions
The retinal microcirculation in the macular area was disturbed in RRD patients without macular involvement. It correlated with the extent of the RRD, and subsided 1 month after successful scleral buckling procedures. Jpn J Ophthalmol 2004;48:358–363 © Japanese Ophthalmological Society 2004Key words macula - microcirculation - retinal blood flow - rhegmatogenous retinal detachment - scleral buckling procedures