A clinical procedure for the measurements of the ocular pulse-pressure relationship and the ophthalmic arterial pressure

A methodology is presented for the measurement in humans of the ocular pulse-pressure relationship and the ophthalmic arterial pressure. It is an objective method based on simultaneous recording of the IOP and pulse as a function of IOP. The pulse amplitude of supine normal subjects was found to decrease as a non-linear function of pressure. The IOP causing extinction of the pulse, the ophthalmic arterial systolic pressure, was well defined and was associated with loss of vision. The pulse-pressure relationships were qualitatively similar in normal eyes of healthy adult subjects and identical in pairs of eyes. In 20 normal subjects with a mean IOP in the supine position of 19·5 mmHg, the mean ophthalmic arterial systolic pressure was 82 mmHg, and the mean brachial arterial pressure was 92 mmHg.