Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 30, 2026
Using Retinal Imaging to Study Dementia
Published on: November 6, 2017
Change of Retinal Nerve Layer Thickness in Non-Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Revealed by Fourier
Mei Han1, Chen Zhao1, Quan-Hong Han1
1a Clinical College of Ophthalmology , Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin Eye Hospital, Tianjin Key Lab of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Tianjin Eye Institute , Tianjin , China.
Purpose:
To examine the changes of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) by serial morphometry using Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT).
Materials And Methods:
Retrospective study in patients with newly diagnosed NAION (n=33, all unilateral) and controls (n=75 unilateral NAION patients with full contralateral eye vision) who underwent FD-OCT of the optic disk, optic nerve head (ONH), and macula within 1 week of onset and again 1, 3, 6, and 12 months later. The patients showed no improvement in vision during follow-up.
Results:
Within 1 week of onset, all NAION eyes exhibited severe ONH fiber crowding and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) edema. Four had subretinal fluid accumulation and 12 had posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) at the optic disc surface. Ganglion cell complex (GCC) and RNFL thicknesses were reduced at 1 and 3 months (p < 0.05), with no deterioration thereafter. Initial RNFL/GCC contraction magnitude in the superior hemisphere correlated with the severity of inferior visual field deficits.
Conclusions:
NAION progression is characterized by an initial phase of accelerated RNFL and GCC deterioration. These results reveal that the kinetic change of neural retina in NAION and may have implication on the time window for treatment of NAION. FD-OCT is useful in the evaluation of NAION.
