What Researchers Did
Researchers quantified retinal vascular changes in three patients undergoing hyperbaric oxygenation by measuring blood vessel diameters from fundus photographs taken before, during, and after treatment.
What They Found
Breathing 100% oxygen at 2.5 ATA caused retinal arterioles to constrict by 9.6% (SD 0.3%) and venules by 20.6% (SD 0.3%) of their size in air. Ten minutes after hyperbaric oxygen, arterioles dilated to 94.5% (SD 0.3%) and venules to 89.0% (SD 0.3%) of their primary size, a pattern consistent across measurement days.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
For Canadian patients receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy, this study suggests that retinal blood vessels will constrict during treatment and partially dilate afterwards. This information could be relevant for monitoring ocular health during such therapies.
Canadian Relevance
This study has no stated Canadian connection.
Study Limitations
A significant limitation of this study is the very small sample size of only three patients.