Fluorescein Angiography in Eyes With Elevated Intraocular Pressure

To the Editor. —I would like to respond to the article entitled "Age, Increased Ocular and Blood Pressures, and Retinal and Disc Fluorescein Angiogram" in the NovemberArchives(1980; 98:1980-1986) by Schwartz and Kern. The comparative study of fluorescein angiography in normal, ocular hypertensive, and glaucomatous eyes may certainly be important in improving our early recognition of glaucomatous optic neuropathy. This most recent article confirms earlier observations and demonstrates delayed fluorescence in retinal vasculature of eyes with elevated intraocular pressure. As the authors have suggested, this may represent delayed filling of the retinal vasculature in eyes with decreased perfusion pressure. However, to suggest that such observations indicate a deficit in the autoregulation of retinal arterial circulation is not entirely consistent with the data presented. As the authors admit, their technique does not quantitate fluorescein density and, consequently, it makes no estimate of volume flow through the retinal arterial circulation.