Evaluation of lamina cribrosa thickness and depth in ocular hypertension

To investigate the differences in thickness and depth of the lamina cribrosa (LC) between ocular hypertension (OH) patients and normal control subjects, using enhanced depth imaging (EDI) spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

EDI-OCT data were obtained from the subjects in a cross-sectional analysis of data from a retrospective study. After IOP correction according to central corneal thickness (CCT), we divided the OH patients into two groups based on the corrected IOP (cIOP)--OH with lower IOP (OH-L; cIOP < 23 mmHg) and OH with higher IOP (OH-H; cIOP ≥ 23 mmHg). Comparisons of LC thickness and depth among three groups were performed.

Seventy-four OH patients and 45 normal control subjects were included in the analysis. Among the 74 OH patients, 41 were included in the OH-L group and 33 were included in the OH-H group. LC thickness was thicker in the OH-H group compared to normal controls both in superior (P = 0.02) and inferior (P = 0.01) portions. However, no difference was found in LC depth among the three groups in any portion (P = 0.36; P = 0.44; P = 0.31, respectively).

OH patients may have a thicker LC than normal control subjects, especially in OH with definite high IOP.