Abstract
Purpose: To evaluate retinal blood flow changes in glaucoma after intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering and to determine whether a correlation exists with retinal capillaries blood flow with IOP changes using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA)
 Materials and Methods: OCTA images were collected from 24 glaucomatous eyes for the macula and 21 eyes for the optic disc in a prospective, cross-sectional observational study. Microvascular changes were analysed at two retinal layers: deep vascular plexus (DVP) and the superficial vascular plexus (SVP) as well as choriocapillaries (CC), were compared pre and six weeks post intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering treatment.
 Results: Retinal blood flow across the macula showed no statistical significance at: SVP (z-score = -0.887), DVP (z-score = -1.093) and CC (z-score = -1.423). Further, no statistically significant difference in retinal blood flow was observed across the disc: SVP (z-score = -0.918), DVP (z-score = -1.057) and CC (z-score = -0.295). While the IOP showed improvement (z-score = -5.049), visual acuity deteriorated (z-score= 1.686)
 Conclusion: No statistical difference was found in the data for all layers of both the areas surrounding the disc and macula at 6 weeks. OCTA can detect microstructural defects and future longitudinal studies may provide further insight into effects of IOP lowering treatment on retinal blood flow in glaucoma patients in longer term.
Highlights
Glaucoma is a prevalent eye disease and is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness and induced vision loss worldwide [1]
2) To correlate the defect of retinal capillaries with intraocular pressure changes and retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) in glaucoma patients pre and post treatment using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). This is a prospective, cross-sectional study that uses non-invasive OCTA to assess whether glaucoma treatment changes the perfusion of both the optic nerve head and macula by assessing blood flow pre and post treatment using OCT angiography and to determine whether the microvascular changes correlate with retinal ganglion cell loss
A total of 24 eyes were analysed for the macula area with 50% of eyes belonging to males and 50% to female participants
Summary
Glaucoma is a prevalent eye disease and is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness and induced vision loss worldwide [1]. The global prevalence of glaucoma worldwide estimates that it affects 3.54% of the population aged between 40 and 80 years of age [2]. In 2013, approximately 64.3 million people worldwide between 40 and 80 years of age had glaucoma, with worrying estimates of this figure increasing to 76.0 million and 111.8 million in 2020 and 2040, respectively [2]. Glaucoma is a condition that affects the optic nerve and associated structures. Diagnosis is based on progressive visual field loss and typical optic nerve head changes, dependent or independent of IOP [3]. A multifactorial disease, is reported as being linked to genetics, age, gender, ethnicity, diabetes
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
