Abstract
Purpose :
Glaucoma is a multifactorial disease comprised of intraocular pressure (IOP) and ocular hemodynamics. Today, the ocular retinal blood flow can been evaluated easily and noninvasively by use of optic coherence tomography (OCT) angiography. The purpose of this present study was to examine via OCT angiography the structure and function at the macular region in regard to retinal blood flow.
Methods :
This retrospective observational study involved 35 eyes (n= 17 male eyes and 18 female eyes) of 26 primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients (13 males and 13 females; mean age: 58.6±10.9 years). Inclusion criteria were patients who 1) were examined via standard ophthalmic testing including OCT at the macula region and static perimetry in February and March 2016 at the Oike-Ikeda Eye Clinic, Kyoto, Japan, and in whom 2) clear images could be obtained via OCT angiography (RS-3000 Advance; Nidek). The images of the OCT-angiography macula map at all layers, the surface layer, and the deep layer of the retina were used. We calculated the macular vessel density (percentage) divided into four areas by means of the image of the 8-bit value and binarization using Image J software. Each quartered macular region was categorized into three groups [i.e., functional aberration (condition A), structural anomaly without functional aberration (condition B), and normal structure (condition C)] according to the four center points of 30-2 static perimetry and the GC chart of macula OCT. The vessel densities were then compared in the three groups using the Scheffe’s test.
Results :
The number of the area of condition A, B, and C were 22, 47, and 71, respectively. The mean vessel density of condition A, B, and C at all layers was 39.1, 44.5, and 46.5, respectively (p<0.01, A compared with C). The mean vessel density of the A, B, and C area at the surface layer was 22.4, 27.1, and 29.6, respectively (p<0.01, A compared with C; p<0.05, A compared with B), and that of each area at the deep layer was 28.1, 30.2, and 29.0, respectively.
Conclusions :
The findings of this study revealed that the retinal vessel density at the surface layer in the functionally aberrant macular region is possibly decreased in POAG patients.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.