Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Imaging of Conjunctiva and Intrasclera in Treated Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma

Abstract

Purpose : To investigate conjunctival and intrascleral vasculature in glaucoma eyes using anterior segment (AS)-optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) and assess the factors contributing to the vessel density in AS-OCTA images.

Methods : This prospective, observational, cross-sectional study included 34 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and 20 healthy subjects. A swept-source OCT system was used to obtain AS-OCTA images of the corneal limbus at the nasal and temporal quadrants. Vessel densities were measured in the superficial (from the conjunctival epithelium to a depth of 200 μm) and deep (from a depth of 200 μm to 1000 μm) layers. The vessel density was compared between healthy and glaucoma eyes, and the associations of the vessel density with possible confounding factors were analyzed using univariable and multivariable analyses.

Results : The vessel density was not significantly different between healthy eyes and eyes with glaucoma. Superficial vessel density was significantly associated with glaucoma medications, especially the use of prostaglandin analog (P = .001 to .002), and the female gender (P = .003 to .047). Deep vessel density was significantly smaller with age (P = .029) in healthy eyes and larger with IOP (P = .020 to .045) in treated eyes with glaucoma.

Conclusions : AS-OCTA images might be useful for objective assessments for conjunctival hyperemia and might be helpful for understanding of the association between intrascleral vasculature and glaucoma.

This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.

 

Circumferential panoramic images of the vasculature acquired using OCTA in an eye with glaucoma.