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DTI parameters of axonal integrity and demyelination of the optic radiation correlate with glaucoma indices

  • Neurophthalmology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Background

In glaucoma, damage of retinal ganglion cells may continue to the linked optic radiations. This study investigates the correlation of glaucoma severity indicators with parameters of axonal and myelin integrity of the optic radiations.

Methods

In this observational case–control study, 13 patients with normal-tension glaucoma, 13 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma, and seven control subjects (mean age, 57.6 ± 12.5 years) were randomly selected for diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the optic radiations. The results of the frequency doubling test (FDT) and the HRT-based linear discriminant functions of Burk (BLDF) and Mikelberg (MLDF) were correlated with the mean of the fractional anisotropy (FA), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), and radial diffusivity (RD) of the optic radiations. Multiple correlation analysis, corrected for age, stage of cerebral microangiopathy, diagnosis group, and gender was conducted at increasing thresholds of linear anisotropy (CL) to reduce mismeasurements because of complex fiber situations.

Results

The best correlations were found for BLDF with FA at CL threshold 0.3 (0.594, p = 0.001), with ADC at CL 0.4 (−0.511, p = 0.005), and with RD at CL 0.4 (−0.585, p = 0.001). MLDF correlated with FA at CL 0.4 (0.393, p = 0.035). The FDT score correlated with FA at CL 0 (−0.491, p = 0.007) and with RD at CL 0 (−0.375, p = 0.045).

Conclusions

In glaucoma, DTI-derived parameters of the axonal integrity (FA, ADC) and demyelination (RD) of the optic radiation are linked to HRT-based indices of glaucoma severity and to impairment of the spatial-temporal contrast sensitivity.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Bonn, Germany (excellence cluster Medical Valley EMN, Grant MVEMN-A-02), and the Johannes und Frieda Marohn-Stiftung at the University of Erlangen, Germany.

The funding organizations had no role in the design or conduct of this research, in the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data, or in preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript. .

None of the authors has any financial/ conflicting interests to disclose. The authors had full control of all primary data and agree to allow Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology to review their data if requested.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054, Erlangen, Germany

    Georg Michelson & Simone Wärntges

  2. Department of Neuroradiology, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany

    Tobias Engelhorn & Arnd Doerfler

  3. Department of Computer Science - Pattern Recognition Lab, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany

    Ahmed El Rafei & Joachim Hornegger

  4. Interdisciplinary Center of Ophthalmologic Preventive Medicine and Imaging (IZPI), University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany

    Georg Michelson & Simone Wärntges

  5. Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT), Erlangen, Germany

    Georg Michelson, Ahmed El Rafei & Joachim Hornegger

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  1. Georg Michelson
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  2. Tobias Engelhorn
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Georg Michelson or Simone Wärntges.

Additional information

G. Michelson and T. Engelhorn contributed equally to this work and thus share first authorship.

Parts of the study have been presented at the ARVO Annual Meeting 2010.

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Michelson, G., Engelhorn, T., Wärntges, S. et al. DTI parameters of axonal integrity and demyelination of the optic radiation correlate with glaucoma indices. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 251, 243–253 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-011-1887-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-011-1887-2

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