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Perifoveal microcirculation with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

  • Clinical Investigation
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Abstract

Fluorescein angiograms were performed to evaluate perifoveal capillary blood velocities (v), capillary density (perifoveal intercapillary areas: PIA) and the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) by means of the scanning laser technique (SLO-101 Rodenstock). The angiograms were digitally stored and the data quantified off-line with an image analyzing system (IBAS). In the present study 46 patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) were examined and their data compared with that of 31 healthy volunteers. The perifoveal capillary flow velocity of the NIDDM subjects (v = 2.33±0.36 mm/s) was significantly (P <0.01) decreased as compared to healthy subjects (v = 2.86 ±0.41 mm/s). The perifoveal intercapillary areas in the foveal avascular zone were significantly increased in patients with NIDDM (PIA=10029 ± 3402 μm2; FAZ = 0.415 ± 0.272 mm2) as compared with healthy subjects (PIA = 3965 ± 467 μm2; FAZ=0.221 ± 0.071 mm2). These data suggest the possibility that a decrease in perifoveal capillary blood velocities in combination with decreased capillary density (enlarged PIA) and an enlargement of the foveal avascular zone may occur in patients with NIDDM. The determination of these parameters could help in monitoring the progress of diabetic retinopathy and diabetic maculopathy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Augenklinik der Medizinischen Fakultät der RWTH Aachen, Pauwelstrasse 30, D-52057, Aachen

    Oliver Arend, Sebastian Wolf, Andreas Remky, Bernd Bertram & Martin Reim

  2. Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, Staniford Street, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Oliver Arend

  3. Department of Ophthalmology, Indiana University School of Medicine, 702 Rotary Circle, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

    William Eric Sponsel & Alon Harris

  4. Department of Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, 635, Barnhill Drive, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

    Alon Harris

Authors
  1. Oliver Arend
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  2. Sebastian Wolf
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  3. Andreas Remky
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  4. William Eric Sponsel
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  5. Alon Harris
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  6. Bernd Bertram
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  7. Martin Reim
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Additional information

Presented in part of the Eighty-ninth Annual Meeting of the Deutsche Ophthalmologische Gesellschaft, Leipzig, Germany, 22–25 September 1991

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Arend, O., Wolf, S., Remky, A. et al. Perifoveal microcirculation with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Graefe's Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 232, 225–231 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00184010

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00184010

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