Macular and Peripapillary Vascular Densities in Non-Glaucomatous Eyes of Patients with Unilateral Glaucoma

Abstract

Objectives:Our purpose was to investigate vascular alterations in the non-glaucomatous eyes of patients with unilateral primary open angle glaucoma using optical coherence tomography angiography and to evaluate the role of vascular damage in glaucoma pathogenesis.Materials and Methods:This cross-sectional study included 60 eyes of 30 patients with unilateral glaucoma (63.4±8.8 years) and 30 eyes of 30 healthy subjects (65.6±9.1 years). Three groups were formed: group A, affected eyes of unilateral glaucoma patients; Group B, non-glaucomatous eyes of unilateral glaucoma patients; and group C, healthy controls.Results:When group A was compared with groups B and C, significant differences were detected in rim area, cup volume, mean cup/disc ratio, and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness parameters (p0.05 for all). In peripapillary and macular vessel density (VD) comparisons, all parameters except intradisc VD were found to be lower in group A (p0.05 for all).Conclusion:The VD values in eyes with glaucoma were found to be lower than in the other two groups. However, no difference was observed between the non-glaucomatous eyes of glaucoma patients and those of healthy individuals. Thus, the results did not support our hypothesis that VD alterations would be observed in the fellow eyes of patients with unilateral glaucoma if the vascular pathway were responsible in the pathogenesis of glaucoma.

Keywords

• primary open-angle glaucoma
• optical coherence tomography angiography
• vascular density