Trabecular meshwork motion reduces in eyes with normal tension glaucoma using phase-sensitive optical coherence...

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Glaucoma Research

Background:

• Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness.
• Trabecular meshwork (TM) dysfunction is implicated in glaucoma pathogenesis.
• Understanding TM biomechanics is crucial for diagnosing and treating glaucoma.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare pulsatile TM motion in normal tension glaucoma (NTG) patients with healthy controls and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients.
• To investigate alterations in TM motion related to visual field defect severity in NTG and POAG.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 15 healthy individuals, 14 NTG patients, and 15 POAG patients.
• Utilized a custom phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography system to measure TM motion.
• Analyzed maximum velocity (MV) and cumulative displacement (CDisp) in temporal and nasal regions.

Main Results:

• NTG patients exhibited significantly lower MV and CDisp compared to healthy controls (p<0.001).
• NTG patients showed higher MV and CDisp than POAG patients (p<0.001).
• POAG eyes with mild-to-moderate visual field defects (GI) had higher TM motion parameters than severe defects (GII), while NTG showed no significant difference between GI and GII.

Conclusions:

• Pulsatile TM motion is impaired in NTG but less so than in POAG.
• The absence of TM motion asymmetry in NTG suggests other factors contribute to disease progression.
• TM biomechanics may play a differential role in NTG versus POAG progression.