[Coincidence of hypertensive changes of the eye fundus and regulation disorders of peripheral microcirculation: I--Skin]

In cases of arterial hypertension, funduscopy is an established method of estimating systemic vascular lesions. In this study the relation between the extent of retinal vascular changes and dynamic processes in the microcirculation of the skin was investigated by nailfold capillaroscopy in 88 patients. With increasing vascular changes a progressive loss of vasodilator reserve and transcutaneous partial pressure was observed (no morphologic changes--fundus hypertonicus II--fundus hypertonicus III). It thus appears possible to evaluate the functional state of the macro- and microcirculation by funduscopy.