RETINAL VASCULAR REACTIVITY IN PATIENTS WITH DIABETES MELLITUS AND WITH ATHEROSCLEROSIS

摘要

In patients with diabetes or atherosclerosis who do not have hypertension the retinal arteries generally show little or no abnormality on ophthalmoscopic examina¬tion. To examine the functional integrity of the retinal vessels in these conditions, a comparative study was made of the constrictor response of retinal arteries and veins to the inhalation of oxygen in a considerable number of control subjects and patients with diabetes or with uncomplicated atherosclerosis. In uncomplicated diabetes the retinal arteries showed a significant joss of the ability to constrict on breathing oxygen, and the loss was intensified when retinopathy was present. It is suggested that this impairment of retinal vascular reactivity in diabetes may contribute to the progression of retinopathy. In uncomplicated atherosclerosis, there is no significant loss of retinal vascular reactivity.