[Optical coherence tomography angiography in glaucoma diagnosis]

According to literature data, vascular dysfunction may well contribute to the development of glaucomatous optic neuropathy, which makes it reasonable to search for new imaging techniques capable of early diagnosis and monitoring of glaucoma through assessment of retinal, optic nerve head (ONH), and choroidal perfusion. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), a recently introduced method based on the split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography (SSADA) algorithm, enables evaluation of both retinal and choroidal blood flow in peripapillary and macular areas. The first studies involving OCTA have revealed a decrease in retinal blood flow in glaucoma. It has also been shown that visual field indices correlate better with the peripapillary flow index than with morphometric parameters of the optic nerve head (ONH) and peripapillary retina. OCT angiography has great potential for ONH blood flow assessment during physiological tests, which is an important step towards understanding pathogenesis of glaucoma.