Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 25, 2025
Monitoring Dynamic Growth of Retinal Vessels in Oxygen-Induced Retinopathy Mouse Model
Published on: April 2, 2021
Retinal vessel diameters, flicker-induced retinal vasodilation and retinal oxygen saturation in high- and low-risk
Mozhgan Sharifizad1,2, Doreen Schmidl1, René M Werkmeister2
1Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Purpose:
To compare retinal vascular parameters between high-risk and low-risk pregnant women over time during pregnancy.
Methods:
In a longitudinal study, we included pregnant women with normal blood pressure and normal body mass index (BMI, group 1), pregnant women with systemic hypertension and/or overweight (group 2) and age-matched nonpregnant healthy women (group 3). Using the dynamic vessel analyser (DVA) we investigated flicker-induced vasodilation in retinal arteries (FLA) and veins (FLV), central retinal arterial and vein equivalent (CRAE, CRVE), arterio-venous ratio (AVR) and retinal arterial and venous oxygen saturation (SartO2 , SveinO2 ). Study visits were scheduled 2nd trimester (TP 2), 3rd trimester (TP 3) and postpartum (PP).
Results:
Data from 29 women in group 1, 25 women in group 2 and 33 women in group 3 were included for analysis. FLA, FLV, CRAE, CRVE, AVR and SveinO2 were altered in group 2 (p-values between < 0.001 and 0.009). At TP 3 the differences between groups were most pronounced. In contrast, there were only minor differences between group 1 and 3. Changes in retinal parameters were independently associated with systemic blood pressure and BMI.
Conclusions:
The present analysis indicates that flicker-induced retinal vasodilation, retinal vessel diameters and retinal oxygen saturation are altered in high-risk pregnant women. Hence, these parameters are candidate biomarkers for pregnancy complications, a hypothesis that deserves further study.
