Abstract
PurposeTo examine associations between neuroretinal rim area, pressure related factors and anthropometric parameters in a population-based setting.MethodsThe population-based cross-sectional Beijing Eye Study 2006 included 3251 subjects with an age of 45+ years. The participants underwent a detailed ophthalmic examination. Exclusion criteria for our study were high myopia of more than -8 diopters and angle-closure glaucoma.ResultsThe study included 2917 subjects with a mean age of 59.8±9.8 years (range: 45–89 years). Mean neuroretinal rim area was 1.97±0.38 mm2, mean intraocular pressure 15.6±3.0 mmHg, mean diastolic blood pressure 79.0±5.9 mm Hg, mean systolic blood pressure 133.5±11.1 mmHg, and mean body mass index was 25.5±3.7. In univariate analysis, neuroretinal rim area was significantly associated with optic disc size, open-angle glaucoma, refractive error, age and gender. After adjustment for these parameters in a multivariate analysis, a larger neuroretinal rim area was significantly correlated with a higher body mass index (P<0.001), in addition to be associated with a lower intraocular pressure (P = 0.004), lower mean blood pressure (P = 0.02), and higher ocular perfusion pressure.ConclusionsIn a general population, neuroretinal rim as equivalent of the optic nerve fibers is related to a higher body mass index, after adjustment for disc area, refractive error, age, gender, open-angle glaucoma, intraocular pressure, blood pressure and ocular perfusion pressure. Since body mass index is associated with cerebrospinal fluid pressure, the latter may be associated with neuroretinal rim area. It may serve as an indirect hint for an association between cerebrospinal fluid pressure and glaucoma.
Highlights
The neuroretinal rim is the intrapapillary equivalent of the optic nerve fibers
The results of the study could be helpful to further elucidate whether and to which extent the pressure related parameters are associated with the neuroretinal rim, and due to the association between neuroretinal rim area and glaucoma, to indirectly elucidate whether the pressure related parameters are associated with glaucomatous optic neuropathy
A larger neuroretinal rim area was significantly associated with higher age, female gender, absence of open-angle glaucoma, larger optic disc size and more hyperopic refractive error, higher body mass index, lower intraocular pressure, and lower systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressure (Table 1)
Summary
The neuroretinal rim is the intrapapillary equivalent of the optic nerve fibers. It is one of the most important morphologic parameters to detect glaucomatous optic neuropathy and to grade the amount of glaucomatous optic nerve damage [1]. Recent studies have added a new parameter, the cerebrospinal fluid pressure, to the list of pressure related variables with a potential influence on the optic nerve and the development of glaucomatous optic neuropathy [14,15,16,17,18,19,20]. In view of these new findings, we conducted our study to examine in the unselected large sample of a population-based investigation whether the neuroretinal rim, besides to be correlated with intraocular pressure, is associated with the other pressure parameters mentioned above. The results of the study could be helpful to further elucidate whether and to which extent the pressure related parameters are associated with the neuroretinal rim, and due to the association between neuroretinal rim area and glaucoma, to indirectly elucidate whether the pressure related parameters are associated with glaucomatous optic neuropathy
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