title: Retinal Blood Vessel Distribution Correlates With the Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness Profile as Measured With GDx VCC and ECC.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Aim of the present study was to evaluate whether there is a correlation between retinal blood vessel density (RVD) and the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness profile.
  
  
  METHODS
  RNFL thickness of 106 healthy subjects was measured using scanning laser polarimetry, GDx variable corneal compensation (VCC), and GDx enhanced corneal compensation (ECC). A proprietary software was developed in MATLAB to measure the peripapillary retinal vessels using scanning laser ophthalmoscopy fundus images, centered on the optic disc measured by Cirrus spectral domain optical coherence tomography. The individual retinal vessel positions and thickness values were integrated in a 64-sector RVD profile and intrasubject and intersubject correlations were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean R value±SD for intrasubject correlation between RVD and RNFL thickness measured with GDx VCC and GDx ECC was 0.714±0.157 and 0.629±0.140, with 105 of 106 subjects presenting significant correlations. In the intersubject linear regression analysis for GDx VCC, 33 of 64 (52%) sectors presented a significant Pearson correlation coefficient between RNFL thickness and RVD values, with a mean R value of 0.187±0.135 (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Peripapillary RNFL thickness profiles correlate with the RVD over 50% of the sectors and might explain up to 26% of the interindividual variance of the peripapillary RNFL thickness values as measured with GDx VCC. To our opinion, taking into account RVD might reduce interindividual variation in peripapillary RNFL thickness profiles measured with scanning laser polarimetry.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Medical University of Vienna, Austria †Section for Medical Information Management and Imaging, Center for Medical Statistics Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Hemma
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Resch
authors.forename: Ivania
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Holzer
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vass
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005654:Fundus Oculi; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers; D009887:Ophthalmoscopy; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000098:blood supply; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D057109:Scanning Laser Polarimetry; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods; D058609:Visual Field Tests; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult