Abstract
Purpose :
To evaluate the association between lamina cribrosa depth (LCD) and severity of glaucomatous damage in bilateral Normal-Tension Glaucoma (NTG) patients who have more damage in one eye.
Methods :
Optic nerve heads (ONH) were scanned using enhanced-depth spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. LCD was measured at the three locations spaced equidistantly across the vertical optic disc diameter using ONH horizontal B-scan images. LCDs were compared between more damaged and contralateral eyes. The association between LCD and the severity of glaucomatous damage was analyzed by using logistic regression analysis. Additionally, the conditional logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the ocular risk factors associated with more damage between both eyes in the individuals.
Results :
A total of 72 eyes of 36 bilateral NTG patients were included. The mean age of patients was 66.8 ± 13.0 years, and 21 patients (58.3%) were male. More damaged eyes had thinner global retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (P < 0.001), worse visual field mean deviation (P = 0.032), and pattern standard deviation than contralateral eyes (P < 0.001). In contrast, there were no significant inter-eye differences in intraocular pressure, spherical equivalent, and axial length. Average LCD was significantly larger in more damaged eyes (514.2 ± 129.3 vs. 481.9 ± 114.2 μm, P = 0.006). While the severity of the glaucomatous damage was not correlated with the degree of LCD in more and less damaged eyes, the eye with deeper LCD had a higher risk for having severe damage between both eyes with similar systemic condition (odds ratio, 1.017; 95% confidence interval, 1.003-1.301; P = 0.021).
Conclusions :
Average LCD was significantly larger in eyes with more damage, suggesting that LC deformation would be associated with glaucomatous ONH damage in the NTG eye.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.