Basal blood flow and autoregulation changes in the optic nerve of rhesus monkeys with idiopathic bilateral optic atrophy.

Purpose

To characterize the hemodynamic features and the association with structural damage in the optic nerve head (ONH) of idiopathic bilateral optic atrophy (BOA) in rhesus macaque monkeys.

Methods

In five animals with BOA and nine healthy animals under general anesthesia (pentobarbital), intraocular pressure (IOP) was manometrically controlled. ONH blood flow was measured with a laser speckle flow graph device. Basal blood flow in global and quadrantal sectors was measured with IOP set at 10 mm Hg; autoregulation capacity was assessed by comparing blood flow changes before and after IOP was increased from 10 to 30 mm Hg. Spectral-domain optic coherence tomography was used to measure retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) by peripapillary circular scans.

Results

Compared with control eyes, RNFLT in BOA eyes was significantly less in all sectors (P < 0.001) except the nasal (P = 0.25); the average global and sectoral blood flow in all quadrants was significantly lower (P < 0.001). These blood flow changes were significantly correlated with corresponding sectoral RNFLT (P < 0.01) except the nasal (P = 0.25). After IOP was increased to 30 mm Hg, global blood flow was significantly reduced (P < 0.001), but with no regional preferences despite prominent temporal RNFLT loss; no significant blood flow change was observed in control eyes (P = 0.24).

Conclusions

Basal blood flow and autoregulation capacity in the ONH of BOA were significantly compromised, with a close correlation to structural changes. The hemodynamic changes showed no regional preference across the ONH, which was consistent with postmortem histological observations.