Flow and oxygen saturation of blood in the anterior ciliary vein of the dog eye

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan

A technique is described which provides the first data on blood flow and oxygen values for the tissue drained by the anterior ciliary vein of the dog eye. Measurements indicated that the tissue drained by this vein has the following properties: a) an unusually high venous oxygen saturation (90%) and, therefore, an exceedingly low arteriovenous oxygen difference (0.9 ml/100 ml); b) a very high rate of blood flow (100 ml/100 g min); c) a relatively low rate of oxygen consumption (0.7 ml/100 g min); d) a venous oxygen capacity significantly higher than that in control arterial blood. Some physiologic implications of these findings are discussed.