Taniguchi EV, et al. - A comparative evaluation was conducted of the optic nerve head (ONH) measurements in glaucomatous eyes with paracentral visual field (VF) loss to eyes with peripheral VF loss and controls. The inference drawn was that thin minimal rim width at Bruch’s membrane opening (BMO-MRW) could serve as a new structural biomarker linked with early glaucomatous paracentral VF loss.

Methods

• During this study, open-angle glaucoma (OAG) patients with early paracentral VF loss or isolated peripheral VF loss.
• The control subjects underwent ONH imaging with swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT) and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) imaging with spectral-domain OCT.
• A comparative scrutiny was carried out of the minimum rim width at Bruch’s membrane opening (BMO-MRW), lamina cribrosa depth (LCD), and RNFL thickness among the glaucoma and control groups via one-way analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis test and multiple regression analysis.

Results

• The enrollment consisted of 29 eyes from 29 OAG patients (15 early paracentral and 14 isolated peripheral VF loss) and 20 eyes of 20 control subjects.
• Similar VF mean deviation (MD) (-5.3±2.7 dB and -3.7±3.0 dB, p=0.15, respectively) was discovered in the early paracentral and isolated peripheral VF loss groups.
• The findings revealed lower global BMO-MRW in OAG eyes than in controls (193.8±40.0 vs 322.7±62.2 μm, p < 0.001).
• However, it appeared to be similar between eyes with early paracentral VF loss and those with isolated peripheral VF loss (187.6±43.4 vs 200.6±36.3 μm; p > 0.99).
• On the other hand, lower minimal BMO-MRW was reported among eyes with early paracentral loss (69.0±33.6 μm) than in eyes with isolated peripheral loss (107.7±40.2 μm; p=0.03) or control eyes (200.1±40.8 μm; p < 0.001).
• No variation was found in the average and thinnest RNFL thickness between OAG groups (p=0.61 and 0.19, respectively).
• In addition, there was no change in the horizontal and vertical LCD among the OAG groups and controls (p=0.80 and 0.82, respectively).
• Among OAG cases, the multivariable linear regression analysis affirmed the connection between lower minimal BMO-MRW and early paracentral VF loss (β=-38.3 μm; 95% confidence interval, -69.8 to -6.8 μm; p=0.02) after adjusting for age, gender, MD, and disc size.