Open AccessRelationship between optic nerve head microcirculation and visual field loss in glaucoma
Author(s) -
Yaoeda Kiyoshi,
Shirakashi Motohiro,
Fukushima Atsushi,
Funaki Shigeo,
Funaki Haruko,
Abe Haruki,
Tanabe Naohito
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1600-0420
pISSN - 1395-3907
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0420.2003.00073.x
Subject(s) - visual field , medicine , glaucoma , optic nerve , ophthalmology , normal tension glaucoma , open angle glaucoma , absolute deviation , blood flow , microcirculation , cardiology , mathematics , statistics
. Purpose: To study the relationship between optic nerve head blood flow velocity and visual field loss in patients with primary open‐angle glaucoma (POAG) and normal tension glaucoma (NTG). Methods: This study included 44 eyes of 44 patients with POAG and 44 eyes of 44 patients with NTG. To evaluate optic nerve head blood flow velocity, the square blur rate (SBR) was measured by means of laser speckle flowgraphy. The correlation between SBR and Humphrey visual field indices was evaluated with linear regression analysis. Results: In the NTG group, the average SBR at the superior and inferior temporal neuroretinal rim was positively correlated with mean deviation (MD) ( r = 0.349, p = 0.020). The SBR at the superior or inferior temporal neuroretinal rim was positively correlated with the sum of the total deviations in the corresponding hemifields ( r = 0.299, p = 0.049; r = 0.354, p = 0.019, respectively). The correlations between SBR and MD did not differ statistically between the NTG and POAG groups; however, no significant correlation between SBR and visual field indices was observed in the POAG group. Conclusion: These results suggested that the change in the circulation of the optic nerve head may be related to visual field damage in the NTG group but may be less involved in visual field damage in the POAG group.