Etrogen-replacement therapy: effect on retrobulbar hemodynamic

PURPOE: Etrogen-replacement therapy caue vaodilation and increaed blood flow in major peripheral arterie. We examined the role that etrogen may play in enhancing perfuion within the waterhed of everal major and minor retrobulbar arterie. METHOD: Potmenopaual women receiving etrogen-replacement therapy (n = 16) were compared with both age-matched women not receiving etrogen (n = 16) and with young women (n = 20). tudie involved color Doppler imaging analyi of flow velocitie meaured in the ophthalmic, central retinal, and naal and temporal poterior ciliary arterie. REULT: In the ophthalmic artery, young women and potmenopaual women receiving etrogen exhibited reduced reitance indexe a compared with potmenopaual women not receiving etrogen (each P < .001). In contrat, flow velocitie in the central retinal artery were imilar among the three group of women. In the poterior ciliary arterie, a different pattern emerged: young women, a compared with either group of potmenopaual women, howed greater peak ytolic and end-diatolic velocitie at imilar reitance index (each P < .05). CONCLUION: Etrogen-replacement therapy in potmenopaual women apparently help reduce vacular reitance dital to the ophthalmic artery to level matching thoe of young women. However, etrogen replacement ha little impact on flow velocitie in the poterior ciliary arterie. In thoe veel, aging per e may reduce perfuion, potentially contributing to the age-dependent rik of major eye dieae, uch a glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration