The Relationship Between Optic Nerve Head and Peripapillary Vascular Densities and Visual Field Analysis in Open Angle Glaucoma

Abstract

Purpose: To c orrelate optic nerve head and peripapillary micro-vascular changes as detected by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) with visual fi eld (VF) deviation parameters and retinal nerve fi ber layer (RNFL) thickness in open angle glaucoma. Materials and Methods: Forty-eight eyes of 48 patients with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and 46 eyes of 46 patients with pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PEG) were included in the study. Total, intra-disc and peripapillary (all quadrants) vascular densities (VD) were evaluated with OCT-A. All patients underwent 24-2 standard automated perimetry and mean deviation (MD) -pattern standard deviation (PSD) values were obtained. Patients with optic nerve pathologies, intraocular pressure ≥25mmHg and media opacities were excluded from the study. Results: The VF MD values were negatively correlated with all OCT-A parameters in POAG and with all quadrants other than intra-disc and nasal-inferior quadrant in PEG. While there was a signifi cant negative correlation between PSD and total image, peripapillary, nasal-inferior, inferior-nasal, inferior-temporal, temporal-inferior, temporal-superior and superior-temporal quadrants in POAG, there was no signifi cant correlation in any parameters other than intra-disc in PEG. When RNFL and OCT-A values were considered, signifi cant positive correlation was detected in all peripapillary micro-vascular parameters other than intra-disc capillary density in both POAG and PEG groups and the temporal-superior quadrant in POAG group. Conclusion: The signifi cant correlation between VF MD value and peripapillary and optic nerve head VD measurements detected by OCT-A value may indicate that OCT-A measurements in the most common glaucoma types may be a potential biomarker in terms of glaucomatous functional damage.