The relation between retinal and cerebral vascular reactivity in normal and arteriosclerotic subjects.

It has been found that retinal arterial reactivity to oxygen is diminished in persons with retinal arteriosclerosis, and that cerebral blood flow and the increment in cerebral flow upon inhalation of carbon dioxide are diminished in persons with cerebral arteriosclerosis. The present study demonstrates that there is a significant positive correlation between retinal arterial reactivity on the one hand, and cerebral blood flow and reactivity, on the other. This finding is taken to mean that arteriosclerosis severe enough to affect measurements of this sort is apt to involve retinal and cerebral vessels together.