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Updated: Mar 15, 2026
Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography of Retinal Circulation
Published on: September 18, 2012
Assessment of orbital blood flow velocities in retinopathy of prematurity
Pehmen Yasin Ozcan1, Ferit Dogan2, Kenan Sonmez3
1Ophthalmology Department, Ministry of Health Sanliurfa Education and Research Hospital, Sanliurfa, Turkey. ozcan.yasin@yahoo.com.
Insights
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in infants is associated with altered ophthalmic artery (OA) blood flow. Specifically, peak systolic velocity in the OA was significantly higher in infants with ROP, indicating potential vascular changes.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Neonatology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a significant cause of visual impairment in premature infants.
- Understanding the vascular dynamics in ROP is crucial for early detection and management.
- Previous studies have explored ocular blood flow in ROP, but findings require further clarification.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether the presence and stage of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) affect central retinal artery (CRA) and ophthalmic artery (OA) blood flow parameters in premature infants.
- To compare blood flow parameters between premature infants with and without ROP.
- To analyze ocular blood flow dynamics across different stages of ROP.
Main Methods:
- Utilized ultrasound color Doppler imaging (CDI) to measure peak systolic velocity (PSV), end diastolic velocity (EDV), and resistivity index (RI) in the CRA and OA.
- Divided 45 infants with ROP (90 eyes) into Group I and 20 infants without ROP (40 eyes) into Group II.
- Conducted subgroup analysis comparing eyes with Stage I ROP, Stage II ROP, and no ROP.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in CRA blood flow parameters (PSV, EDV, RI) were observed between infants with and without ROP.
- Infants with ROP (Group I) showed a significantly higher mean PSV in the OA compared to those without ROP (Group II).
- Subgroup analysis revealed significant differences in OA mean PSV among eyes with Stage 1 ROP, Stage 2 ROP, and no ROP, suggesting a correlation between ROP severity and OA systolic flow velocity.
Conclusions:
- Color Doppler imaging can detect significant alterations in ophthalmic artery systolic flow velocities in infants with retinopathy of prematurity.
- While central retinal artery flow appears unaffected, ophthalmic artery blood flow dynamics, particularly PSV, are altered in the presence of ROP.
- These findings highlight the potential of CDI in assessing vascular changes associated with ROP in premature infants.
Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the presence of any stage retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) alters central retinal artery (CRA) and ophthalmic artery (OA) blood flow parameters in premature infants. The patients were divided into two groups according to the development of ROP; those who have ROP were defined as group I, those without ROP were defined as group II. Ninety eyes of 45 patients in group I and 40 eyes of 20 patients in group II were investigated. The blood flows in the CRA and OA were measured using ultrasound color doppler imaging (CDI) that allows to evaluate the peak systolic velocity (PSV), end diastolic velocity (EDV), and resistivity index (RI). The results were compared between two groups of subjects. There were no significant differences in the PSV, EDV, and RI of CRA between two groups (P = 0.09, P = 0.20 and P = 0.63, respectively). The mean PSV value of OA in group I was found to be significantly higher than the one in group II (P < 0.05), but there were no significant differences in the mean EDV and RI values of OA between two groups (P = 0.40, P = 0.17 respectively). The subgroup analysis revealed that the ocular blood dynamics were not found to be significant between eyes with stage I ROP and eyes with stage II ROP (P > 0.05), whereas the difference in the mean PSV values of OA were found to be significant among the eyes with stage 1 ROP, eyes with stage 2 ROP, and eyes without ROP (P = 0.03). This study demonstrated significant alterations in systolic flow velocities in the OA predicted by CDI in infants with ROP.
