title: Optic nerve head morphology in glaucoma patients of African descent is strongly correlated to retinal blood flow.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the relationship between change in optic nerve head (ONH) morphology and retinal blood flow in patients with open-angle glaucoma (OAG) of African (AD) and European descent (ED) over 3 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  112 patients with OAG (29 AD; 83 ED) underwent assessment of ONH morphology using Heidelberg retinal tomography (HRT-III), and retinal blood flow using confocal scanning laser Doppler. Repeated-measures analysis of covariance was used to compare baseline and 3-year measurements, and Pearson correlations were calculated to evaluate the relationships.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In OAG patients of AD, change in superior mean retinal blood flow was strongly, negatively correlated with change in cup/disc (C/D) area ratio (r=-0.78, p=0.020) and cup area (r=-0.75, p=0.0283) and strongly, positively correlated with change in rim area (r=0.74, p=0.0328) over 3 years. In OAG patients of AD, change in inferior mean retinal blood flow was strongly, negatively correlated with changes in C/D area ratio (r=-0.88, p=0.0156) and linear C/D ratio (r=-0.86, p=0.0265) over 3 years. In OAG patients of ED, these correlations were weak and did not reach statistical significance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  OAG patients of AD may have a stronger vascular component to their glaucoma pathophysiology than patients of ED.
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
authors: Priyanka
authors: P
authors: Kanakamedala
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
authors: Alon
authors: A
authors: Harris
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
authors: Brent
authors: B
authors: Siesky
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
authors: Ariel
authors: A
authors: Tyring
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Muchnik
authors: Department of Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
authors: George
authors: G
authors: Eckert
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
authors: Leslie
authors: L
authors: Abrams Tobe
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D044383:Black People; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D005260:Female; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000208:ethnology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry; D008297:Male; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000473:pathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000502:physiology*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D014794:Visual Fields; D044465:White People
keywords: Glaucoma; Optic Nerve; Retina