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Comparison of retinal microvascular changes in eyes with high-tension glaucoma or normal-tension glaucoma: a quantitative optic coherence tomography angiographic study

  • Glaucoma
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to determine and compare the changes in the retinal vasculature in eyes with high-tension glaucoma (HTG) or normal-tension glaucoma (NTG).

Methods

The right eyes of 43 HTG subjects, 33 NTG subjects, and 51 age- and sex-matched normal subjects were included in this cross-sectional study. Signals were projected from the internal limiting membrane to retinal pigment epithelium. The retinal perfused vessel densities in the peripapillary and parafoveal regions were measured automatically with optic coherence tomography angiography and the split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography algorithm.

Results

Compared with normal eyes, glaucomatous eyes had a smaller retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness, smaller full parafoveal retinal thickness, and lower retinal perfused vessel density (PVD) in the peripapillary and parafoveal regions (all P < 0.01). The visual field, RNFL and retinal thicknesses, and PVD in the parafoveal region in the HTG eyes were similar to those in the NTG eyes. However, the NTG eyes had a significantly lower mean PVD than the HTG eyes in the peripapillary region. When the different sectors of the peripapillary region were studied, the difference was still significant in most sectors (all P < 0.05), except the inferotemporal sector (P = 0.676).

Conclusions

The retinal perfused vessel density is significantly reduced in HTG and NTG eyes, and more prominently in the peripapillary region in NTG eyes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Jianfeng Luo of Fudan University, Shanghai, China, for assistance with the statistical analyses in this study.

Funding

This study was supported in part by research grants from the Surface Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81770922, China), the project of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning (Grant No. 201740204, China), the clinical science and technology innovation project of Shanghai Shenkang Hospital Development Center (SHDC12017X18), the National Major Scientific Equipment Program (2012YQ12008003), the Shanghai Nature Science Foundation (14ZR1405400) and the International Science and Technology Cooperation Program of China (2015DFA31340).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Huan Xu and Ruyi Zhai contributed equally to this study and share first authorship.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, 83 Fenyang Rd., Shanghai, 200031, People’s Republic of China

    Huan Xu, Ruyi Zhai, Yuan Zong, Xiangmei Kong, Chunhui Jiang & Xinghuai Sun

  2. Key Laboratory of Myopia, Ministry of Health (Fudan University), Shanghai, China

    Huan Xu, Ruyi Zhai, Yuan Zong, Xiangmei Kong, Chunhui Jiang & Xinghuai Sun

  3. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Visual Impairment and Restoration (Fudan University), Shanghai, China

    Huan Xu, Ruyi Zhai, Yuan Zong, Xiangmei Kong, Chunhui Jiang & Xinghuai Sun

  4. State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Xinghuai Sun

  5. The Key Laboratory on Adaptive Optics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610209, China

    Yi He & Xiqi Li

  6. The Laboratory on Adaptive Optics, Institute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610209, China

    Yi He & Xiqi Li

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  1. Huan Xu
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Correspondence to Xiangmei Kong.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Xu, H., Zhai, R., Zong, Y. et al. Comparison of retinal microvascular changes in eyes with high-tension glaucoma or normal-tension glaucoma: a quantitative optic coherence tomography angiographic study. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 256, 1179–1186 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-018-3930-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-018-3930-z

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