Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2026
Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography of Retinal Circulation
Published on: September 18, 2012
Effects of dopamine on retinal and choroidal blood flow parameters in humans
Karl-Heinz Huemer1, Claudia Zawinka, Gerhard Garhöfer
1Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna A-1090, Austria.
Aim:
To investigate the effect of dopamine on retinal and choroidal blood flow in humans.
Methods:
We investigated the effect of two doses of intravenous dopamine (5 and 10 microg/kg/min) via a randomised double-masked crossover study in 12 healthy subjects chosen from a total of 16. Blood flow parameters in retina, optic nerve head and choroid were assessed with bi-directional laser Doppler velocimetry, laser Doppler flowmetry and laser interferometric measurement of fundus pulsation amplitude, respectively.
Results:
Intravenous dopamine dose-dependently increased retinal blood cell velocity and fundus pulsation amplitude (p<0.001). At the highest administered dose red blood cell velocity in retinal vessels increased by 37% and fundus pulsation amplitude by 24%. By contrast, optic nerve head blood flow did not change with dopamine administration.
Conclusions:
Our data indicate that dopamine has a pronounced enhancing effect on the retinal perfusion in humans. Further studies are required to establish the exact role of dopamine in the regulation of choroidal and optic nerve head blood flow.
