Central retinal artery Doppler flow parameters reflect the severity of cerebral small-vessel disease.

Abstract

We investigated the usefulness of central retinal artery (CRA) Doppler flowmetry in patients with cerebral small-vessel disease (SVD). CRA Doppler flowmetry was performed in 103 SVD patients who underwent MRI. Sixty-four adjusted control subjects were also registered. We assessed average CRA flow parameter values for both eyes with the clinical and MRI findings. Each Doppler flowmetry was performed within 5 minutes. Patients with SVD had significantly lower end-diastolic and mean velocities of the CRA than control subjects; they also had higher pulsatility and resistive indexes. Multivariate analysis showed that the number of small infarcts was an independent predictor of peak systolic and mean velocities. Grade of periventricular hyperintensities was an additional independent predictor of peak systolic and mean velocities, whereas the number of small infarcts was predictive of end-diastolic velocity. Flow parameters may be useful for the quantitative assessment of SVD severity.