Abstract
Purpose :
Recent studies have demonstrated the presence of abnormalities in the macular retinal vessels of patients with open-angle glaucoma. We performed a prospective, observational cross-sectional study to determine whether changes in macular retinal vessel density (VD) were associated with steady-state pattern electroretinogram (ssPERG) parameters, retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, and ganglion cell inner plexiform layer (GCL-IPL) thickness measurements in glaucoma suspects (GS).
Methods :
14 patients (19 eyes) with normal Humphrey 24-2 visual field tests, suspicious
optic nerve head findings and refractive errors < ± 5.0 Diopters were enrolled in the study conducted at Manhattan Eye Ear and Throat Hospital. Participants underwent ophthalmological examination and tests on Humphrey Field Analyzer (HFA), Diopsys NOVA PERG, SPECTRALIS® OCT, and the Cirrus HD OCT-A Angioplex devices. VD of the retinal arteries was calculated using the vessel analysis plug-in on ImageJ. An inner circular boundary with a diameter of 0.6mm was used to exclude the foveal avascular zone and a 1mm (VD1mm) or 2mm (VD2mm) diameter circle was used as an outer boundary. Correlation analyses were used controlling for age and spherical equivalent.
Results :
Results were gathered from 19 eyes of 14 patients aged 59.64 ± 14.16 years of age, with mean IOP 17.29 ± 3.98 and HFA 24-2 mean deviation 0.51 +/- 0.72. VD1mm was negatively correlated with FAZ area (r=-0.684, p<0.01) and positively correlated with PERG parameters Mag (r=0.665, p<0.01), MagD (r= 0.682, p<0.01) and MagD/Mag ratio (r= 0.599, p<0.05). VD1mm was also positively associated with nasal-inferior RNFL thinning, although the relationship was not significant (r=.483, p=0.068). VD2mm was positively correlated with nasal-superior RNFL thinning (r=0.693, p<0.01). No significant associations between VD and GCL-IPL thickness were found.
Conclusions :
This study is the first to demonstrate that reductions in macular VD correlate with abnormal ssPERG parameters and RNFL thinning in patients with GS. Macular VD decrease was detected sooner than GCL-ILP thickness changes, which is most likely associated with early stages of disease. Further studies are necessary to determine the interactions between GCL-IPL, PERG and VD across the disease spectrum and by sectors.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.