Ocular Blood Flow Measured Using Laser Speckle Flowgraphy During Aortic Arch Surgery With Antegrade Selective Cerebral Perfusion.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to evaluate the validity of ocular blood flow measured using laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG) for the assessment of cerebral perfusion during aortic arch surgery.

DESIGN

A prospective study.

SETTING

A single university hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

The study included 17 patients undergoing aortic arch surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) using antegrade selective cerebral perfusion (ASCP).

INTERVENTIONS

Measurement of ocular blood flow using LSFG.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Measurement of ocular perfusion that is supplied mainly from the ophthalmic artery might be useful as an indicator of cerebral blood flow because the ophthalmic artery is the first branch of the internal carotid artery. Recently, LSFG has been developed for noncontact estimation of ocular perfusion using the laser speckle phenomenon. In this study, the LSFG system was used to measure blood flow in the optic nerve head during aortic arch surgery with CPB using ASCP. The blood flow in the optic nerve head during ASCP was statistically significantly reduced by 40.6% compared with the baseline value after anesthetic induction.

CONCLUSIONS

Ocular blood flow measured using LSFG showed favorable validity for assessment of cerebral perfusion during aortic arch surgery with ASCP.