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(Circulation. 1955;12:64.)
© 1955 American Heart Association, Inc.

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The Relationship Between Impaired Retinal Vascular Reactivity and Renal Function in Patients with Degenerative Vascular Disease

H. O. SIEKER M.D.¹; J. B. HICKAM M.D.¹; J. F. GIBSON A.B.¹

¹ From the Department of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina.

In hypertension and diabetes retinal vascular changes which are evident on fundiscopic examination are usually accompanied by renal vascular changes which are evident on microscopic examination. It has been found that the retinal vessels of most patients with hypertension or diabetes fail to constrict normally when the blood oxygen tension is elevated. This investigation evaluates the clinical significance of decreased retinal vascular reactivity in patients with degenerative vascular disease by relating it to kidney function as measured by common clinical tests. The results of the study show that impairment of retinal arterial reactivity usually occurs in the course of degenerative vascular disease, particularly in hypertension, in advance of clinical evidence of altered kidney function. When clinical tests of renal function demonstrate renal damage, loss of retinal arterial and venous reactivity is marked.