title: Macular Ganglion Cell Inner Plexiform Layer Thickness in Glaucomatous Eyes with Localized Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Defects.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (mGCIPL) thickness in glaucomatous eyes with visible localized retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) defects on stereophotographs.
  
  
  METHODS
  112 healthy and 149 glaucomatous eyes from the Diagnostic Innovations in Glaucoma Study (DIGS) and the African Descent and Glaucoma Evaluation Study (ADAGES) subjects had standard automated perimetry (SAP), optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging of the macula and optic nerve head, and stereoscopic optic disc photography. Masked observers identified localized RNFL defects by grading of stereophotographs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  47 eyes had visible localized RNFL defects on stereophotographs. Eyes with visible localized RNFL defects had significantly thinner mGCIPL thickness compared to healthy eyes (68.3 ± 11.4 μm versus 79.2 ± 6.6 μm respectively, P<0.001) and similar mGCIPL thickness to glaucomatous eyes without localized RNFL defects (68.6 ± 11.2 μm, P = 1.000). The average mGCIPL thickness in eyes with RNFL defects was 14% less than similarly aged healthy controls. For 29 eyes with a visible RNFL defect in just one hemiretina (superior or inferior) mGCIPL was thinnest in the same hemiretina in 26 eyes (90%). Eyes with inferior-temporal RNFL defects also had significantly thinner inferior-temporal mGCIPL (P<0.001) and inferior mGCIPL (P = 0.030) compared to glaucomatous eyes without a visible RNFL defect.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current study indicates that presence of a localized RNFL defect is likely to indicate significant macular damage, particularly in the region of the macular that topographically corresponds to the location of the RNFL defect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.|Hamilton Glaucoma Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, San Diego, United States of America.
authors.forename: Chunwei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Hamilton Glaucoma Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, San Diego, United States of America.|Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion and Department of Ophthalmology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Tatham
authors.affiliation: Hamilton Glaucoma Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, San Diego, United States of America.|Department of Ophthalmology, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ricardo Y
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.affiliation: Hamilton Glaucoma Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, San Diego, United States of America.
authors.forename: Na'ama
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hammel
authors.affiliation: Hamilton Glaucoma Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, San Diego, United States of America.
authors.forename: Akram
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Belghith
authors.affiliation: Hamilton Glaucoma Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, San Diego, United States of America.
authors.forename: Robert N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Weinreb
authors.affiliation: Hamilton Glaucoma Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, San Diego, United States of America.
authors.forename: Felipe A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Medeiros
authors.affiliation: Harkness Eye Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jeffrey M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Liebmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America.
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Girkin
authors.affiliation: Hamilton Glaucoma Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, San Diego, United States of America.
authors.forename: Linda M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Zangwill
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008266:Macula Lutea / Q000166:cytology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence