June 2023
Volume 64, Issue 9
Open Access
ARVO Imaging in the Eye Conference Abstract  |   June 2023
Improving structure-function correlations in mild glaucoma by aligning retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) maps to compensate for individual eye anatomy
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Hannah Rana
    Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • Tobias Elze
    Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • Mohammad Eslami
    Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • Yan Luo
    Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • Sajib Saha
    Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • Min Shi
    Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • Yu Tian
    Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • Nazlee Zebardast
    Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • Mengyu Wang
    Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • Saber Kazeminasab Hashemabad
    Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships   Hannah Rana, None; Tobias Elze, None; Mohammad Eslami, None; Yan Luo, None; Sajib Saha, None; Min Shi, None; Yu Tian, None; Nazlee Zebardast, None; Mengyu Wang, None; Saber Kazeminasab Hashemabad, None
  • Footnotes
    Support  Schmidt Science Fellowship, NIH R01 EY030575, NIH P30 EY003790
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science June 2023, Vol.64, PB0026. doi:
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      Hannah Rana, Tobias Elze, Mohammad Eslami, Yan Luo, Sajib Saha, Min Shi, Yu Tian, Nazlee Zebardast, Mengyu Wang, Saber Kazeminasab Hashemabad; Improving structure-function correlations in mild glaucoma by aligning retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) maps to compensate for individual eye anatomy. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2023;64(9):PB0026.

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      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

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Abstract

Purpose : Inter-individual differences in retinal nerve fiber geometry may impede the detection of associations between retinal structure (RNFLT) and visual function in early stage glaucoma. We study if the alignment of optical coherence tomography (OCT) based peripapillary RNFLT maps due to individual major artery trajectories and individual optic nerve head (ONH) size can improve pointwise correlations with visual field (VF) loss.

Methods : Major supero- and infero-temporal arteries were manually traced on four concentric circles around the ONH on fundus images from Cirrus HD-OCT peripapillary volume scans of 419 patient eyes with mild (mean deviation ≥-3dB) VF loss (Humphrey SITA Standard 24-2). The 200×200 A-scan locations of each eye were aligned to the median artery locations (Fig.1) and scaled to median ONH size over all eyes. The correlation between each A-scan of the RNFLT maps with each VF location was compared between aligned and unaligned maps.

Results : Prior to alignment for individual eye anatomy, maximal structure-function Pearson correlations over the 40,000 A-scans varied between 0.10 and 0.37 over the 52 VF locations (Fig.2A). Post alignment, maximal correlations increased in 22 of the VF locations (Fig.2B), with a maximal improvement of 0.13. The mean correlations over the RNFLT maps increased in 44 of 52 VF locations. Improvements are focused on the nasal and inferior VF. The highest correlations among the A-scan locations concentrate around the median artery locations over all VF locations pre-alignment. Post alignment, the highest correlations are more focalized and centered close to the artery trajectories. This suggests retinal vulnerability zones relating to the entire VF rather than separate specific thinning locations for each VF location.

Conclusions : Due to high noise levels of VF measurements, the detection of mild glaucoma relies on structure-function relationships. Rather than distinct, individual RNFLT damage locations for each VF location, we observe general vulnerable retinal areas mainly focused around major artery locations. Alignments to compensate for individual retinal anatomy intensify this effect and increase the maximal correlations over the RNFLT map for many VF locations. Finding these specific vulnerability zones and their localizations may improve detecting early stage glaucomatous VF loss.

This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Imaging in the Eye Conference, held in New Orleans, LA, April 21-22, 2023.

 

 

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