Peripapillary Vascular Density in Childhood Glaucoma: A Pilot Comparative Study with Age and Sex Matched Healthy Subjects

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study concerns the evaluation of peripapillary vessel indices in childhood glaucoma (CG) and healthy subjects. Material and Methods: In this prospective, unicenter, observational cross-sectional study, patients with CG and age and sex-matched healthy subjects were included. We compared retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) measurements in optical coherence tomography (OCT), peripapillary vessel density (PVD), and the flux index (FI) of the superficial vascular plexus from OCT angiography (OCT-A) between CG patients and control groups. Results: We included 39 patients (68 eyes) with CG and 50 (95 eyes) healthy subjects. The peripapillary RNFL thickness, vessel density, and flux index were significantly lower in the CG group than in the control group. The mean PVD of CG patients was 0.52 ± 0.043%, compared with 0.55 ± 0.014%, p p p p 0.00037), p 0.012.Conclusions: PVD and FI show lower values in CG and correlate with RNFL thickness measurement but have lower diagnostic ability than RNFL thickness measurement. Our results reveal possible differences in the pathogenesis of microvascular compromise in childhood glaucoma patients.

Keywords

• childhood glaucoma
• congenital glaucoma
• ocular blood flow
• optic nerve head
• optical coherence angiography
• peripapillary nerve fiber layer