Anterior ciliary venous blood flow and oxygen saturation at reduced arterial pressure

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

Flow and oxygen saturation of blood in the anterior ciliary vein of the dog eye were measured as arterial pressure was reduced. Blood flow showed a proportional reduction with reduction in arterial pressure. In this respect this vascular bed behaves, in general, as a rigid tube system over the range of arterial pressures examined. The normally high oxygen saturation of anterior ciliary venous blood was remarkably constant as arterial pressure was reduced. The calculated value for oxygen consumption by the tissue drained by the anterior ciliary vein was, therefore, proportional to blood flow throughout the range of arterial pressures examined and, in this respect, this tissue behaves as a flow-limited organ.