Retinal vascular caliber between eyes with asymmetric glaucoma

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Vascular Biology
• Glaucoma Research

Background:

• Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness.
• Retinal vascular changes are increasingly recognized in glaucoma pathogenesis.
• Asymmetric disease severity between fellow eyes provides a unique model to study intra-individual vascular differences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate differences in retinal arterial caliber (RAC) and retinal venular caliber (RVC) between fellow eyes in patients with asymmetric primary glaucoma.
• To determine if retinal vascular caliber correlates with glaucoma severity markers.

Main Methods:

• Included 158 subjects with bilateral primary glaucoma and asymmetric disease severity.
• Compared RAC and RVC between eyes with worse disease and fellow eyes with mild disease.
• Utilized clustered linear regression, adjusting for age, gender, vascular risk factors, visual acuity, axial length, and intraocular pressure.

Main Results:

• Eyes with more severe glaucoma exhibited significantly narrower average RAC (131.5 ± 17.8 μm) compared to fellow eyes with mild disease (141.6 ± 18.8 μm).
• Similarly, RVCs were narrower in eyes with worse glaucoma (201.0 ± 21.4 μm) versus mild disease eyes (211.7 ± 25.3 μm).
• Worse disease was confirmed by greater vertical cup-disc ratios (VCDR) and more severe visual field mean deviation (MD).

Conclusions:

• In glaucoma with asymmetric severity, retinal vascular caliber is reduced in the eye with more severe disease.
• These findings suggest a link between retinal vascular narrowing and glaucoma progression.
• Retinal vascular caliber may serve as a potential biomarker for glaucoma severity.