Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 30, 2026

Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography of Retinal Circulation
Published on: September 18, 2012
Choroidal blood flow and arterial blood pressure
Purpose:
Untreated hypertension is associated with ocular complications and is a risk factor for the development and progression of vascular ocular pathologies. We set out to investigate the association between systemic blood pressure and choroidal blood flow.
Methods:
All subjects were male non-smokers, who did not receive any medication and had normal or slightly elevated blood pressure (systolic blood pressure < or = 160 mmHg; diastolic blood pressure < or = 100 mmHg). The association between systemic blood pressure and fundus pulsation amplitude, a measure of pulsatile choroidal blood flow, was investigated in 318 volunteers. In addition, the association between systemic blood pressure and blood flow velocities in the posterior ciliary arteries supplying the choroid was investigated in these subjects.
Results:
Ocular fundus pulsation amplitude (r = 0.252; P < 0.001) and mean flow velocity in the posterior ciliary arteries (r = 0.346, P < 0.001) were significantly associated with mean arterial pressure. The correlation of ocular haemodynamic variables with systolic and diastolic blood pressure was in the same range.
Conclusions:
Our data indicate a small, but significant increase in choroidal blood flow with increasing blood pressure.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Blood Flow
Blood Pressure
The average BP in an adult is typically around 120/80 mmHg (millimeters of mercury). In this measurement, the numerator (120) indicates the systolic pressure, which is the pressure in the arteries during the contraction of the heart's ventricles as blood is expelled. The denominator (80) represents the diastolic...
Hypertension and Regulation of Blood Pressure
Arteries and Arterioles
Blood Pressure
Autoregulation of Blood Flow
Chemical Signaling in Autoregulation
Chemical signaling operates at the precapillary sphincter level, inciting either contraction or relaxation.

