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Purpose:
To analyze the relationship between the blood flow of the Ophthalmic, Central Retinal and Posterior Ciliary arteries and the development of AMD
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Methods:
Design was observational, prospective, analytical and transversal. The sample was divided into three group: Group 1 with diagnosis of AMD,; Group 2 with a diagnosis of arterial hypertension (AHT); Group 3 with healthy patients. All participants underwent a complete ophthalmological examination with optical coherence tomography (OCT) and doppler ultrasound.
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Results:
78 eyes of 39 patients were studied. Smokers were more prevalent among patients with AMD (46.2%) and with high blood pressure (AHT) (61.5%), than among healthy people (23.1%) (p 0,01). Best corrected visual acuity was lower in the AMD group (LogMar 0.10±0.08) than in the healthy (0.04±0.06) and AHT group (0.07±0.06). Choroidal thickness was lower in patients with AMD and AHT (p <0,01). Flow velocities in OA, CRA and PCA were higher in the healthy group (35.2 cm/s2), than the other two groups (28.2 and 28.7 cm/s2) (p < 0.01). There was no statistically difference in group AMD and AHT neither mean systolic velocities (MSV) nor central choroidal thickness.
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Conclusions:
There was a statistically difference between group with AMD and healthy patients in MSV in AO, ACP and ACR, and choroidal thickness. It is possibly associate risk factors such as AHT and smoking in the development of the disease. Vascular changes contribute to poor retinal perfusion and would be a risk factor for the development of AMD