Comparative study of cerebral blood flow in patients with normal-tension glaucoma and control subjects.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in normal-tension glaucoma patients (NTGs) compared with normal volunteers (controls) in a pilot study.


METHODS
Observational cohort study.


METHODS
The Iodine-123-IMP single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scans were acquired in 31 NTGs and 18 age-matched controls. The SPECT images in NTGs were classified and the quantitative rCBF data were compared with controls.


RESULTS
Seven of 31 NTGs (22.6%) exhibited an Alzheimer's disease (AD)-like perfusion pattern although none of them were clinically diagnosed with AD. The visual field defect of NTGs with an AD-like pattern progressed more rapidly than NTGs with a normal pattern (P=.132). The rCBF in left parietal regions of NTGs with senile sclerotic or focal ischemic disk was significantly lower than controls (P<.05).


CONCLUSIONS
A number of NTGs exhibited an AD-like perfusion pattern, suggesting that some of NTGs and AD patients might have a common pathologic mechanism.
Sugiyama
Tetsuya
T
Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka Medical College, Osaka, Japan. opt017@poh.osaka-med.ac.jp
Utsunomiya
Keita
K
Ota
Hitoya
H
Ogura
Yasuharu
Y
Narabayashi
Isamu
I
Ikeda
Tsunehiko
T
D000368:Aged; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D020367:Iofetamine; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014794:Visual Fields
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D020367:Iofetamine