Do optic discs get "thinner" or "narrower?".
OBJECTIVE
To survey the literature to determine how the dimensions of the neuroretinal rim are commonly described, and to clarify and standardize the description of changes in the dimensions of the neuroretinal rim in glaucoma.


METHODS
Literature review of 275 articles describing the neuroretinal rim in glaucoma and a survey of ophthalmologists describing 2 disc photographs. Frequencies of descriptors of the neuroretinal rim were surveyed, which included "thinning" and "narrowing."


RESULTS
Of the 275 articles, 80 described the neuroretinal rim clinically. Forty-one articles used "thinning" to describe progressive loss of rim tissue in a radial axis, 13 articles used "narrowing" and rest used "width" to describe the characteristics of neuroretinal rim. Of the 295 ophthalmologists, 264 used "thinner," whereas 31 used "narrower" to describe the neuroretinal rim.


CONCLUSIONS
Accurate phenotyping is an essential part of patient care, research, and training. "Thinning" is currently used more commonly than "narrowing" in the literature to describe progressive loss of the neuroretinal rim in a radial axis. It would be appropriate to use "narrowing" for radial loss or decrease in width and "thinning" for decrease in the thickness of the rim.
Anna V. Goldberg Glaucoma Service, Wills Eye Institute, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. gspaeth@willseye.org
George L
GL
Spaeth
Kalpana K
KK
Jatla
Parul
P
Ichhpujani
D005901:Glaucoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000473:pathology*; D009901:Optic Nerve Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010641:Phenotype; D009626:Terminology as Topic