title: Correlation between optic disc perfusion and glaucomatous severity in patients with open-angle glaucoma: an optical coherence tomography angiography study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore how optic disc perfusion varies in patients with open-angle glaucoma (OAG) and how this correlates with glaucoma severity.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a prospective and cross-sectional observational study that included 62 eyes from 62 patients with OAG, divided into three groups according to their visual field (VF) results, and 20 eyes from 20 normal control subjects. Optic disc perfusion was studied using optical coherence tomography angiography (angio-OCT), and flow index and vessel density were determined. The VF, mean deviation (MD), pattern standard deviation (PSD), retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, and ganglion cell complex (GCC) thickness were also recorded. The potential associations between disc perfusion and VF defects or structural loss were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In OAG patients, the disc flow index and vessel density were significantly lower than in normal controls (all p<0.001) and were correlated with the severity of glaucoma. In OAG eyes, the flow index and vessel density were significantly correlated with MD, RNFL, and GCC thickness (all p<0.01), but were not in the normal controls. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis also revealed that disc flow index and vessel density had the power to differentiate normal eyes from eyes with OAG (under the ROC curves: 0.82 and 0.80, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Angiograms demonstrated a reduced disc flow index and vessel density in glaucoma, and this reduction was closely related to GCC thickness. This indicated that measurement of disc perfusion by angio-OCT might be important for the monitoring of glaucoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, 83 Fenyang Road, Shanghai, 200031, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chunhui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Xiangmei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Xiaobo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Wang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: Guohua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Xinghuai
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000098:blood supply*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000473:pathology; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000502:physiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult