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Acquired peripapillary changes and progression in glaucoma

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Abstract

In a review of fundus photographs, changes in the degree of depigmentation or atrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) were observed near the disc over time in 21% of cases with progressive glaucomatous cupping, but they also occurred as a natural phenomenon over time in 4% of eyes with nonprogressive glaucoma and in 3% of nonglaucomatous eyes. Thus, the peripapillary RPE shows some progressive alteration in normal individuals, but also may sometimes suffer along with the axons during glaucomatous damage. The acquired changes observed in the progressive glaucomatous eyes seem too small and too infrequent to account for the high prevalence of large haloes and crescents seen around the optic disc in glaucoma.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami School of Medicine, 33101, Miami, FL, USA

    Edward J. Rockwood & Douglas R. Anderson

Authors
  1. Edward J. Rockwood
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  2. Douglas R. Anderson
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Additional information

Supported in part by U.S. Public Health Research Grant R01 EY-000031, in part by U.S. Public Health Service Award T32 EY-0702 awarded by the National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, in part by National Glaucoma Research, a program of American Health Assistance Foundation, Rockville, Maryland, and in part by Alcon Research Institute

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Rockwood, E.J., Anderson, D.R. Acquired peripapillary changes and progression in glaucoma. Graefe's Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 226, 510–515 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02169197

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02169197

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