Open Access<p>Ganglion Cell Complex Analysis in Glaucoma Patients: What Can It Tell Us?</p>
Author(s) -
Gianluca Scuderi,
Serena Fragiotta,
Luca Scuderi,
Clemente Maria Iodice,
Andrea Perdicchi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
eye and brain
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.017
H-Index - 15
ISSN - 1179-2744
DOI - 10.2147/eb.s226319
Subject(s) - glaucoma , ganglion , ophthalmology , medicine , neuroscience , optometry , psychology
Glaucoma is a group of optic neuropathies characterized by a progressive degeneration of retina ganglion cells (RGCs) and their axons that precedes functional changes detected on the visual field. The macular ganglion cell complex (GCC), available in commercial Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography, allows the quantification of the innermost retinal layers that are potentially involved in the glaucomatous damage, including the retinal nerve fiber (RNFL), ganglion cell and inner plexiform layers. The average GCC thickness and its related parameters represent a reliable biomarker in detecting preperimetric glaucomatous damage. The most accurate GCC parameters are represented by average and inferior GCC thicknesses, and they can be associated with progressive visual field loss. Although the diagnostic accuracy increases with more severe glaucomatous damage and higher signal strength values, it is not affected by increasing axial length, resulting in a more accurate discrimination of glaucomatous damage in myopic eyes with respect to the traditional RNFL thickness. The analysis of the structure-function relationship revealed a good agreement between the loss in retinal sensitivity and GCC thickness. The use of a 10-2° visual field grid, adjusted for the anatomical RGCs displacement, describes more accurately the relationship between RGCs thickness and visual field sensitivity loss.