Vessel Density in Glaucoma of Different Entities as Measured with Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography

C Lommatzsch; K Rothaus; J M Koch; C Heinz; S Grisanti

doi:10.2147/OPTH.S230192

Vessel Density in Glaucoma of Different Entities as Measured with Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography

Clin Ophthalmol. 2019 Dec 17:13:2527-2534. doi: 10.2147/OPTH.S230192. eCollection 2019.

Authors

C Lommatzsch¹, K Rothaus¹, J M Koch¹, C Heinz^{1

2}, S Grisanti³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, St. Franziskus Hospital, Muenster 48145, Germany.
² Department of Ophthalmology, University of Essen, Essen, Germany.
³ Department of Ophthalmology, University of Luebeck, Luebeck, Germany.

Abstract

Purpose: To compare papillary and macular vessel density (VD), as measured by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), in eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) and exfoliation glaucoma (XFG).

Methods: The papillary and macular VD of 40 eyes with POAG, 19 with NTG and 21 with XFG were examined using OCTA (AngioVue™). The VD was measured at two different layers of segmentation (optic nerve head: radial peripapillary capillary [RPC] and nerve head [NH]; macula: superficial [SL] and deep [DL] retinal vascular plexus) with a 4.5×4.5mm papillary and 6×6-mm macular scan. VD was calculated by an automated density measuring tool in the AngioVue™ software.

Results: There were no significant differences in the total value of the papillary, peripapillary and macular VD. A significantly higher VD could be measured for NTG compared to POAG, as well as for XFG in the inferior nasal peripapillary sector at RPC-segmentation and at the NH-level between NDG and XFG.

Conclusion: OCTA can detect a difference in VD in the nasal inferior peripapillary sector in NTG compared with POAG and XFG. These findings may help to improve the understanding of further pathophysiological mechanisms.

Keywords: OCT angiography; blood flow; glaucoma entities; vessel density.

Grants and funding

There was no financial support for this study.