Topical epinephrine and regional ocular blood flow in aphakic eyes of rabbits

The effects of 4% topical epinephrine bitartrate on regional ocular blood flow were studied in normal, "sham-operated," and aphakic eyes of rabbits. Anterior uveal blood flow decreased in all cases, but reductions in the ciliary processes were less pronounced in aphakic eyes than in sham-operated eyes. Doubling the dose (from 2 to 4 drops) abolished this difference in the ciliary processes, but the increased dose was accompanied by the emergence of a similar (although lesser) effect in the iris. The latter dose additionally decreased retinal blood flow in aphakic eyes compared with the sham-operated eyes. Lens extraction, thus, seems to remove a notable diffusion barrier to topical epinephrine, resulting in both attenuation of its anterior segment effects and in potentiation of a vasoconstrictive response in the posterior pole.