The ocular pulse.

A recording applanation tonometer was used to examine the ocular pulse in normal subjects and patients with ocular hypertension, open angle glaucoma and low tension glaucoma. The mean pulse amplitude of right eyes of normal subjects was 2.84 mm Hg +/- 1.16 and 2.83 mm Hg +/- 1.18 for left eyes. Only 2% of subjects showed an interocular difference in pulse amplitude of more than 0.5 mm Hg. There were significant differences in pulse amplitude with refractive errors. Hypermetropic eyes had the largest pulse amplitude and myopic eyes the smallest. There was no significant correlation between pulse amplitude and intraocular pressure or age in normal subjects. The mean pulse amplitude of eyes with open angle glaucoma was significantly higher than that of normals. The mean pulse amplitude of a small number of eyes with ocular hypertension was significantly higher and eyes with low tension glaucoma had significantly lower pulse amplitudes than normal subjects.