title: Compensation for retinal vessel density reduces the variation of circumpapillary RNFL in healthy subjects.
abstract: This work intends to assess circumpapillary retinal vessel density (RVD) at a 3.46 mm diameter circle and correlate it with circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness measured with Fourier-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography. Furthermore, it aims to evaluate the reduction of intersubject variability of RNFL when considering RVD as a source of information for RNFL distribution. For that, 106 healthy subjects underwent circumpapillary RNFL measurement. Using the scanning laser ophthalmoscope fundus image, thickness and position of retinal vessels were assessed and integrated in a 256-sector RVD profile. The relationship between local RVD value and local RNFL thickness was modeled by linear regression. RNFL was then compensated for RVD variation by regression formulas. A strong statistically significant intrasubject correlation was found for all subjects between RVD and RNFL profiles (mean R = 0.769). In the intersubject regression analysis, 247 of 256 RNFL sectors showed a statistically significant positive correlation with RVD (mean R = 0.423). RVD compensation of RNFL resulted in a relative reduction of up to 20% of the intersubject variance. In conclusion, RVD in a 3.46 mm circle has a clinically relevant influence on the RNFL distribution. RVD may be used to develop more individualized normative values for RNFL measurement, which might improve early diagnosis of glaucoma.
authors.affiliation: Center for Medical Statistics Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Section for Medical Information Management and Imaging, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Department of Ophthalmology & Optometry, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Ivania
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology & Optometry, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology & Optometry, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Holzer
authors.affiliation: Center for Medical Statistics Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Section for Medical Information Management and Imaging, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology & Optometry, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vass
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology & Optometry, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Hemma
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Resch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005654:Fundus Oculi; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009887:Ophthalmoscopy / Q000379:methods; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods