title: Reduced cortical thickness in primary open-angle glaucoma and its relationship to the retinal nerve fiber layer thickness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine possible changes in cortical thickness and their relationship to retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG).
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-six patients with POAG and 40 matched healthy controls were enrolled in this study. All subjects underwent a comprehensive ophthalmologic examination and a high resolution structural magnetic resonance scan. Cortical thickness analysis was used to assess the changes between patients and controls. Correlations between the thickness of the visual cortex and RNFL thickness were also analyzed. Finally, the relationship between the severity of changes in the visual cortex and RNFL thickness was evaluated by comparing patients with mild and severe groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  POAG patients showed significant bilateral cortical thinning in the anterior half of the visual cortex around the calcarine sulci (left BA 17 and BA 18, right BA17) and in some smaller regions located in the left middle temporal gyrus (BA37) and fusiform gyrus (BA19). The thickness of the visual cortex correlated positively with RNFL thickness (left, r = 0.44, p = 0.01; right, r = 0.38, p = 0.03). Significant differences between mild and severe groups were observed with regard to both RNFL thickness and the thickness of bilateral visual cortex (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate that cortical thickness analysis may be sufficiently sensitive to detect cortical alterations in POAG and that the measurement has great potential for clinical application.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China ; Department of Radiology, 401st hospital of the People's Liberation Army, Qingdao, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Longhua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Xuntao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Minglong
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Alan C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology*; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000473:pathology*; D014794:Visual Fields; D055815:Young Adult
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