Heart rate and age modulate retinal pulsatile patterns.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Physiology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Theoretical models suggest heart rate (HR) influences retinal pulsatile patterns (RPPs).
• In-vivo validation of this relationship and its scientific merit is currently lacking.
• Understanding RPP modulation is critical for accurate physiological modeling and medical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize the morphology of RPPs in vivo.
• To assess the impact of heart rate (HR) and age on RPP morphology.
• To validate the scientific merit of RPP modulation by physiological factors.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of retinal hemodynamic video recordings.
• Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to isolate distinct RPPs: spontaneous venous pulsation (SVP) and optic cup pulsation (OCP).
• Statistical analysis to determine the effects of HR and age on RPP morphology and between-group differences.

Main Results:

• Two primary RPPs, SVP and OCP, were identified.
• HR significantly modulated the morphology of both SVP and OCP (p_FDR < 0.05).
• Age significantly modulated SVP morphology (p_FDR < 0.05), and both age and HR affected between-group differences.

Conclusions:

• Heart rate and age are significant modulators of retinal pulsatile patterns (RPPs).
• This provides crucial in-vivo validation for theoretical models of retinal hemodynamics.
• Findings impact future study designs, data analysis, and biophysical models of ocular and cardiovascular physiology.