Ritsuko YAMADA , Masayuki KUDOH , Satoki UENO

Department of Ophthalmology, St. Marianna University School of Medicine

キーワード : Arthritis obliterance , Doppler method , Ocular Beh&#231et's disease , Pulsatility index , Resistance index

Ocular Behçet's disease is characterized by recurrent iridocyclitis with hypopyon and arthritis obliterance of the retinal vessels. It has been known to develop its main focus of inflammation from neovascular endothelial cells around the ora serrata and pars plana of the ciliary body and to lead to posterior uveitis. Here we demonstrate results of Doppler evaluation of the central retinal artery (CRA) in the evaluation of ocular hemodynamics in Behçet's disease. As a result, eyes with severe chorioretinitis (retinitis group) had significantly lower average maximum, minimum, and mean velocity, and acceleration time index than those in the control and iritis groups (mainly those with anterior uveitis). Average resistance and pulsatility indexes in the retinitis group were significantly higher than corresponding values in the iritis group. This may suggest that eyes with recurrent chorioretinitis show an increase in peripheral vascular resistance in the CRA, followed by a decrease in the velocity and volume of blood flow. These results show that the evaluation of the hemodynamics of the CRA on Doppler examination may be helpful in determining the prognosis of ocular disorders in cases of Behçet's disease.