[Changes in retinal hemodynamics in old age].

The influence of increasing age on the haemodynamics of the retina was examined in a prospective study using 377 consecutive videoangiograms. A significant alteration of the arm-to-retina time and the arterial, capillary and venous phases of the retinal circulation is not detectable before the 60th year of life. After the age of 60 all circulation times change in a negative sense. A further, pronounced slowing of retinal circulation appears after the 75th year of life. This shows that the well-known morphological alterations in the retinal vessels in old age are accompanied by haemodynamic changes.