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Published on: March 26, 2020
Peripapillary Vascular Density Differentiates Glaucomatous Cupping From Physiological Cupping Using Optical Coherence
Doaa Maamoun Ashour1, Nesrin Said Madkour1, Weam Mohamed Ebeid1,2
1Ophthalmology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University.
PréCis:
In glaucoma, peripapillary vascular density was reduced compared with normal eyes, with or without physiological cupping.
Purpose:
To assess the ability of radial peripapillary capillaries vessel density (RPC VD) to distinguish between physiological and glaucomatous cupping using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).
Patients And Methods:
An observational study was conducted at Ain Shams University, involving 98 eyes from 98 patients, divided into 3 groups. Group 1 included 30 eyes with primary open angle glaucoma, group 2 included 28 normal eyes with physiological cupping [vertical cup/disc ratio 0.6 or more based on structural optical coherence tomography (OCT) and no evidence of glaucoma], and group 3 included 40 age-matched normal eyes (vertical cup/disc ratio ≤0.5). Participants were subjected to ophthalmological examination, structural OCT, and OCTA of the optic disc.
Results:
Group 1 exhibited significantly lower RPC VD than the other groups ( P <0.001), while no significant differences were noted between groups 2 and 3 ( P =0.559). Moderate negative correlations were observed between C/D vertical ( r =-0.556, P =0.002), and horizontal ratios ( r =-0.430, P =020), and RPC VD in glaucomatous eyes across the whole image and its 4 quadrants. No significant correlations were found between these parameters in the other groups.
Conclusion:
Using OCTA, glaucomatous eyes showed reduced RPC VD compared with normal eyes, even in the presence of physiological cupping. This finding may help to differentiate between physiological and glaucomatous cupping.
