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PURPOSE: To investigate if decrease of IOP affects the volumetric blood flow rate in the ophthalmic artery (OA) in patients with previously untreated ocular hypertension.

METHODS: Subjects with untreated ocular hypertension (n = 30; mean age 67 +/- 8 years; 14 females) underwent ophthalmologic examination and a 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging investigation. The magnetic resonance imaging included three-dimensional high-resolution phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging to measure the OA blood flow rate. The subjects received latanoprost once daily in the eye with higher pressure, the untreated eye served as control. The same measurements were repeated approximately 1 week later.

RESULTS: The mean OA blood flow rate before and after treatment was 12.4 +/- 4.4 and 12.4 +/- 4.6 mL/min in the treated eye (mean +/- SD; P = 0.92) and 13.5 +/- 5.2 and 13.4 +/- 4.1 mL/min in the control eye (P = 0.92). There was no significant difference between the treated and control eye regarding blood flow rate before (P = 0.13) or after treatment (P = 0.18), or change in blood flow rate after treatment (0.1 +/- 3.1 vs.-0.1 +/- 4.0 mL/min, P = 0.84). Latanoprost decreased the IOP by 7.2 +/- 3.1 mm Hg in the treated eye (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that a significant lowering of IOP does not affect the blood flow rate of the OA in ocular hypertension subjects. The ability to maintain blood supply to the eye independent of the IOP could be a protective mechanism in preserving vision in subjects with ocular hypertension.