Progression patterns of normal‐tension glaucoma groups classified by Hierarchical cluster analysis

Abstract

AbstractPurposeTo investigate differences in progression patterns of normal‐tension glaucoma patients in three clusters classified by Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA).Method200 eyes of NTG patients classified by HCA in 2015 who were followed up until now were included. We evaluated the progression rate of NTG in SD‐OCT and visual field test and compared characteristics of the progression in each group.ResultA total of 153 patients were followed up and the mean observation period was 5 years. In cluster 1, which showed early glaucomatous damage in the previous report, the mean retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) reduction rate was −0.83 μm/year. In cluster 2, which showed moderate glaucomatous damage, the reduction rate was −0.45 μm/year, and In cluster 3, which showed young and myopic glaucomatous damage, the rate was −0.36 μm/year. The progression pattern of cluster 3 showed a double‐peak distribution with the RNFL reduction rate being 0.11 μm/year in non‐progressive group and −1.07 μm/year in progressive group.ConclusionWhen the optic nerve head parameters were classified by HCA, the divided groups showed different patterns of NTG progression. In particular, the group of young myopia showed a mixture of two different patterns. /