The effect of pregnancy on retinal hemodynamic in diabetic veru nondiabetic mother Original Reearch Article

PURPOE: To invetigate retinal circulatory change that occur during the third trimeter of pregnancy in diabetic patient and control ubject. METHOD: Bidirectional laer Doppler velocimetry and monochromatic fundu photography were ued to ae the retinal circulation in even pregnant diabetic patient and 13 age-matched pregnant control ubject. Retinal venou diameter (D), maximum erythrocyte velocity (Vmax), and retinal volumetric blood flow rate (Q) were meaured in one eye of each ubject during the third trimeter of pregnancy (DPREG, VmaxPREG, and QPREG, repectively). Thee meaurement were repeated during the potpartum period for both diabetic patient (11 ± 7 week potpartum) and control ubject (16 ± 6 week potpartum; P = .203; DPOT, VmaxPOT, and QPOT). REULT: In control ubject, DPREG wa ignificantly reduced by −4.5% ± 4.4% (mean percent difference ± 1 tandard deviation; paired t tet, P = .006) relative to DPOT. In diabetic women, DPREG wa alo ignificantly reduced by −8.1% ± 3.2% compared with DPOT (P = .001), a change that wa ignificantly larger than that een in control ubject (unpaired t tet; P = .035). Compared with QPOT, QPREG wa reduced by −7.1% ± 14.2% (P = .123), in control ubject. In diabetic women, QPREG wa ignificantly decreaed by −18.4% ± 9.3% compared with QPOT (P = .012). Thi reduction in QPREG wa ignificantly greater in diabetic patient than in nondiabetic control ubject (unpaired t tet, P = .040). No ignificant difference between VmaxPREG and VmaxPOT were oberved in either diabetic patient (−3.1% ± 12.9%; P = .400) or control ubject (+1.9% ± 14.4%; P = .787). CONCLUION: Retinal venou diameter i decreaed during the third trimeter of pregnancy in both diabetic and nondiabetic mother. Thi decreae i ignificantly larger in diabetic than in nondiabetic mother. In addition, we oberved a reduction in retinal volumetric blood flow in diabetic patient during pregnancy that wa ignificantly larger than that preent in nondiabetic women. Thi fall in retinal volumetric blood flow in diabetic patient may exacerbate retinal ichemia and hypoxia and thu may be aociated with the progreion of diabetic retinopathy.