Association Between Optic Disc Perfusion Determined by Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography and...

Reduced optic disc vessel density determined by swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) was associated with visual field (VF) deterioration in glaucomatous eyes, which suggested that this parameter can be a potential biomarker that correlates well with functional deterioration.

The purpose of this study was to identify the association between optic disc perfusion evaluated by SS-OCTA and VF progression in primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) eyes.

A total of 266 POAG eyes of 266 patients (5.4 y of mean follow-up) were included. Optic nerve head SS-OCTA was performed to evaluate the optic disc vessel density (dVD), parapapillary choroidal vessel density (pcVD), choroidal microvascular dropout (cMvD), and optic disc microvascular dropout (dMvD). VF progression was defined using Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial criteria. Factors associated with VF worsening were assessed by Cox proportional hazard analysis.

Eighty (30.1%) out of the 266 POAG eyes showed VF progression. The progression group showed a significantly higher proportion of disc hemorrhage, cMvD, and dMvD but lower dVD and pcVD than the stable group (all P <0.05). Considering the strong association between the parameters [dMvD vs. dVD ( r = -0.757, P =0.010], cMvD vs. pcVD ( r = -0.745, P =0.012), dMvD vs. cMvD ( r = 0.802, P <0.001], dVD vs. pcVD ( r = 0.862, P <0.001), CMvD vs. dVD ( r = -0.698, P =0.031), and dMvD vs. pcVD ( r = -0.688, P =0.034)], 6 models with different combinations of covariates compensating for multicollinearity were developed. Younger age, presence of disc hemorrhage, and lower dVD were consistently associated with progression in all models that included these parameters.

Optic disc perfusion, represented as dVD, may be a useful biomarker that correlates well with functional deterioration in POAG eyes.