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The newly developed laser Doppler technique was used to measure retinal blood flow characteristics in patients with forms of central retinal venous occlusive disease. The measurements were consistent with the expected reduced retinal blood flow in these disease processes.

The laser Doppler technique was used to measure the pulsatile characteristics of the retinal arterial blood flow in diabetic patients with severe retinopathy immediately before argon laser panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) and again one to two months after PRP. In each measurement the relative variation of the maximum red blood cell velocity, Vmax, in a major branch retinal artery was determined throughout the cardiac cycle. Flow pulsatility was defined as the ratio of Vmax at maximum systole to Vmax at minimum diastole. Following PRP, each eye showed a decrease in flow pulsatility as well as a decrease in retinal arterial and venous diameters. The measurements are consistent with an autoregulatory response of the retinal circulation to increased inner retinal oxygen concentration following PRP. Laser Doppler measurements may be a useful means of assessing the effectiveness of a particular PRP treatment.