Retinal Oxygen Function After Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy (RT) is a common treatment for patients with cancers of the sinonasal area, orbit, skull base, nasopharynx, and brain. Because of the close proximity of these targets to the eyes, the retina is often incidentally and unavoidably irradiated. As a result, some patients develop radiation retinopathy and possibly vision loss. Clinicopathologic studies suggest similar microvascular mechanisms for both radiation- and diabetic retinopathy: small vessel occlusion and ischemia that can lead to neovascularization, increased capillary permeability, and visual loss in the regions of retina perfused by damaged vasculature. UNC has a novel, non-invasive retinal imaging technology called a Retinal Oximeter which measures hemoglobin oxygen saturation of retinal vessels. The difference in oxygen saturation between a retinal arteriole and venule pair reflects the oxygen consumption of the retinal region supplied by that vessel pair.