Abstract
Objective—To evaluate the use of color Doppler imaging (CDI) for determining the resistive index (RI) of the medial long posterior ciliary artery (mLPCA) in clinically normal conscious dogs.
Animals—18 (10 sexually intact males, 8 sexually intact females) dogs between 1 and 5 years old.
Procedure—Color Doppler ultrasonography was performed on both eyes with dogs in a sitting position. Each eye was imaged from the region dorsal to the zygomatic arch with the transducer positioned in a horizontal plane. The mLPCA was localized, and RI was calculated from velocities obtained for 3 similar Doppler waveforms. To determine the reproducibility of CDI-derived RI, measurements were repeated twice at a 10-day interval.
Results—Mean (± SD) RI of the mLPCA was 0.68 ± 0.07 (95% confidence interval, 0.65 to 0.70; n = 36 eyes). Resistive index did not significantly differ between right and left eyes or male and female dogs. In addition, body weight was not correlated with RI. Repeated measurements of RI did not yield significantly different results (interclass correlation coefficient, 0.8297).
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Color Doppler imaging appears to be a valid technique for determination of RI of the mLPCA in conscious dogs. This technique may be useful for investigating the pathophysiologic processes of many ocular and orbital vascular disorders in dogs. (Am J Vet Res 2002;63:211–214)
