title: The prognostic value of retinal vessel analysis in primary open-angle glaucoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyse a prognostic value of initial retinal vessel flicker response for the 3-year development of functional (visual field) and morphological (nerve fibre layer thickness) damage progression in primary open-angle glaucoma patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Initially, 70 patients were recruited, and flicker response was measured by standardized procedure with the retinal vessel analyser (RVA). Ocular coherence tomography of retinal nerve fibre layer (OCT RNFL) and a visual field testing were performed at beginning and every 6 months for 3 years; 56 patients completed the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No correlation was found between the progression of visual field (VF) mean defect and retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thinning over 3 years on one and the maximal flicker reaction in arteries and veins on the other side (all p > 0.1). However, the calculated difference of examined parameters in the superior versus inferior retinal halves correlated significantly between the RNFL thinning and the initial maximal flicker response for arteries (p = 0.01) and veins (p = 0.003).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This longitudinal study did not find a general correlation between initial retinal vessel response to flicker light and the glaucoma damage progression measured by OCT and VF, hence limiting the relevance of the RVA device as a predictor of future glaucomatous damage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Nicolas Philipp
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Waldmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Asan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kochkorov
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Polunina
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Selim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Orgül
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Konstantin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gugleta
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014065:Tonometry, Ocular; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D058609:Visual Field Tests; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: flicker stimulation; predictors; primary open-angle glaucoma; retinal vessel analyser