An evaluation of biomicroscopy of the conjunctival vessels.

Human clinical biomicroscopy is an aid to the assessment of the microcirculation in health and disease. It has only limited diagnostic value but in some important conditions gives helpful clues and in a few conditions pathognomonic information. Features which can be evaluated include intravascular red cell aggregation, small blood vessel patterns, diameter of vessels, stasis pools, microaneurysms, petechiae and vasomotion. Red cell aggregation correlates well with sedimentation rate. Some of these factors, or combinations of them, correlate well with arteriosclerosis, diabetes, and hypertension. The apparatus required is relatively simple, and the method is noninvasive.