Ophthalmol Glaucoma. 2021 Mar 3:S2589-4196(21)00043-0. doi: 10.1016/j.ogla.2021.02.003. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To compare the characteristics of the peripapillary choroid (PPC) between the two eyes of patients with unilateral treatment-naïve normal tension glaucoma (NTG).
DESIGN: Observational case series.
PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-nine patients (138 eyes) with treatment-naive unilateral NTG.
METHODS: The characteristics of PPC vasculature were evaluated by measuring PPC thickness and assessing the presence of parapapillary deep-layer microvasculature dropout (MvD). PPC thickness was measured by enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (OCT). MvD was assessed using OCT angiography. The area and maximum radial width of β-zone parapapillary atrophy (PPA) were measured on infra-red images using the built-in caliper tool of the Spectralis OCT.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Between-eye differences in PPC thickness, MvD frequency, and the area and maximum width of β-zone PPA.
RESULTS: Eyes with NTG had higher intraocular pressure (IOP), longer axial length, thinner PPC, larger area and maximum radial width of the β-zone PPA, and more frequent MvD (P < 0.01 each) than contralateral healthy eyes. Multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis revealed that higher IOP, thinner PPC, larger maximum radial width of β-zone PPA, and the presence of MvD were independently associated with the risk of NTG (P < 0.03 each). MvD location and retinal nerve fiber layer defect were topographically correlated in eyes with NTG.
CONCLUSIONS: PPC vasculature characteristics are significantly more compromised in eyes with NTG than in contralateral healthy eyes of patients with unilateral NTG.
PMID:33676067 | DOI:10.1016/j.ogla.2021.02.003
