Defects Along Blood Vessels in Glaucoma Suspects and Patients

To examine the relationship between small hypodense regions ("holes") in the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) seen on circumpapillary optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of glaucoma patients and suspects and the paravascular inner retinal defects (PIRDs) seen with OCT line scans near blood vessels in individuals without optic nerve disease but with high myopia and/or epiretinal membranes (ERMs).

Based upon the availability of wide-field, swept-source OCT scans, 19 eyes from 15 glaucoma patients or suspects were selected from a larger group of eyes with holes on circumpapillary frequency-domain OCT scans. Paravascular defects (PDs) were identified using en face slab images generated (ATL 3D-Suite) from 52-μm slabs just below the vitreal border of the inner limiting membrane by averaging reflective intensity. Paravascular defects were confirmed with B-scans from these images.

For 13 of the 19 eyes, the appearance of the PDs fit the previously described PIRDs and extended well beyond the circumpapillary region. In the other 6 eyes, the PDs were restricted to a small region and did not fit the previously described appearance of PIRDs. In these eyes, the holes were associated with an arcuate defect of the RNFL. Of the 13 with PIRDs, 9 had ERMs and/or high myopia previously associated with PIRDs in otherwise healthy eyes.

Holes seen on circumpapillary OCT scans of glaucoma patients and suspects are associated with local glaucomatous damage, as well as with PIRDs associated with high myopia and ERMs.