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Decreased Heidelberg Retina Flowmeter (HRF) parameter "flow" at the papilla shortly after smoking a cigarette
A Lietz-Partzsch1, S M Griesser, J Flammer
1Laboratory of Ocular Pharmacology and Physiology, University Eye Clinic Basel, Mittlere Strasse 91, PO Box, CH-4012 Basel.
Purpose:
To investigate the effect of smoking a cigarette on the Heidelberg Retina Flowmeter (HRF) parameter "Flow" at the papilla of healthy young volunteers.
Methods:
Three HRF measurements were taken over the papilla (20 x 5, 256 x 64 pixels) in fourteen occasional smokers and in 14 non-smokers. Ten minutes later three similar HRF measurements were again made. In between the two series of measurements occasional smokers were asked to smoke a cigarette (Marlboro, nicotine content 9 mg) and non-smokers not.
Results:
In occasional smokers, the values (arbitrary units) of the HRF parameter "Flow", calculated at the papilla (50 x 50 pixels), significantly (P = 0.01) decreased (11.2 +/- 3.5%) after smoking a cigarette. In contrast, in non-smokers, the values of the HRF parameter "Flow" did not decrease significantly (2.9 +/- 2.2%) when measurements were repeated 10 minutes later.
Conclusions:
The results of the present study suggest that smoking a cigarette can affect the HRF-parameter "Flow" at the papilla. The clinical implication of such an observation needs further investigations.