Clinical evaluation of microcystic macular edema in patients with glaucoma

PurposeTo investigate the prevalence of microcystic macular edema (MME) in patients with glaucoma and the relationship between glaucomatous visual field defects and MME.Patients and methodsWe analyzed 636 eyes of 341 glaucoma patients who underwent spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). MME was defined as vacuoles observed in the inner nuclear layer (INL) on SD-OCT. Quantitative assessment of MME area was performed using en-face imaging obtained swept-source OCT (SS-OCT) and Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended software. These values were compared with the visual field results with the Humphrey field analyzer.ResultsMME was observed in 1.6% of eyes. The visual field mean deviation (MD), pattern standard deviation (PSD) and visual acuity was significantly worse (P= 0.023, P=0.037, and P=0.018, respectively) in eyes with MME. The average MME area was 2.38±1.43%. There was no significant correlation between visual field deficits and MME area.ConclusionsThe MME detection rate based on general inspection was 1.6%. MME in glaucomatous eyes were associated with worse MD, PSD, and visual acuity. Further research is needed to increase the number of cases to allow for more detailed analysis.