Eye microcirculation in glaucoma. Part 2. Disorders of regional hemodynamics

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. The etiology of primary glaucoma is usually divided into mechanical and vascular mechanisms. Research of the vascular component of glaucoma was going on since the beginning of the last century with continuous improvement of diagnostic methods from invasive to high-tech non-contact ones. Modern and promising methods are: ultrasound examination in color Doppler mapping and pulsed Doppler modes, optical coherence tomography angiography, and laser speckle flowgraphy. The review describes specific for glaucoma blood flow changes in ocular vessels, correlating with functional and structural changes: decrease of vascular density in macular, parafoveolar, and peripapillary areas, decrease of the integral indicator of microcirculation, decrease of the indicators of volume and linear blood flow velocities in retinal and choroidal vessels, impaired retrobulbar blood circulation. The analysis of literature data is presented concerning the investigation of hemodynamic disturbances in ocular vessels in normotensive glaucoma and glaucoma in myopic eyes, in systemic blood flow disturbances (arterial hypertension and hypotension) in patients with glaucomatous optic neuropathy.