Posterior (Outward) Migration of the Lamina Cribrosa and Early Cupping in Monkey Experimental Glaucoma

PURPOSE. To quantify the lamina cribrosa insertion into the peripapillary sclera and optic nerve pia in normal (N) and early experimental glaucoma (EEG) monkey eyes. METHODS. Perfusion-fixed optic nerve heads (ONHs) from 21 animals were digitally reconstructed three dimensionally and delineated. Anterior Laminar Insertion Position (ALIP), Posterior Laminar Insertion Position (PLIP), Laminar Insertion Length (LIL; distance between the anterior and posterior laminar insertions), and Scleral Thickness (at the Anterior Subarachnoid space) were calculated for each ONII. Animals were pooled into four groups based on the kill condition (N vs. EEG) and perfusion IOP (10, 30, or 45 mm Hg) of each eye: N10-N10 (n = 6), N30/45-N10 (n = 6), EEG10-N10 (n = 3), and EEG30/45-N10 (n = 6). Glaucomatous EEG versus N eye differences in each group and each animal were required not only to achieve statistical significance (P = 0.05) but also to exceed physiologic intereye differences within the bilaterally normal groups. RESULTS. ALIP was significantly posterior (outward) in the EEG compared with N10 eyes of the EEG30/45-N10 group and 5 of 9 individual EEG eyes (difference range, 12-49 mu m). PLIP was significantly posterior in the EEG eyes of both EEG groups and in 6 of 9 individual EEG eyes (range, 25-83 mu m). LIL ranged from 90 to 190 mu m in normal eyes and was significantly increased within the EEG eyes of both EEG groups and in 7 of 9 individual EEG eyes (difference range, 30-47 mu m). CONCLUSIONS. Posterior migration of the lamina cribrosa is a component of early cupping in monkey EEG. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011;52:7109-7121) DOI:10.1167/iovs.11-7448