The Relationship between Intracranial Pressure and Visual Field Zones in Normal-Tension Glaucoma Patients

Growing evidence suggests that intracranial pressure (ICP) plays an important role in the pathophysiology of glaucoma, especially in normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) patients. Controversial results exist about ICP's relationship to visual field (VF) changes. With the aim to assess the relationship between ICP and VF zones in NTG patients, 80 NTG patients (age 59.5 (11.6) years) with early-stage glaucoma were included in this prospective study. Intraocular pressure (IOP) (Goldmann), visual perimetry (Humphrey) and non-invasive ICP (via a two-depth Transcranial Doppler, Vittamed UAB, Lithuania) were evaluated. Translaminar pressure difference (TPD) was calculated according to the formula TPD = IOP - ICP. The VFs of each patient were divided into five zones: nasal, temporal, peripheral, central, and paracentral. The average pattern deviation (PD) scores were calculated in each zone. The level of significance p < 0.05 was considered significant. NTG patients had a mean ICP of 8.5 (2.4) mmHg. Higher TPD was related with lower mean deviation (MD) (p = 0.01) and higher pattern standard deviation (PSD) (p = 0.01). ICP was significantly associated with the lowest averaged PD scores in the nasal VF zone (p < 0.001). There were no significant correlations between ICP and other VF zones with the most negative mean PD value. (p > 0.05). Further studies are needed to analyze the involvement of ICP in NTG management.

Automated summary

Growing evidence suggests that intracranial pressure (ICP) is important in the pathophysiology of glaucoma, especially in normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) patients. This study aims to assess the relationship between ICP and visual field (VF) zones in NTG patients. The results showed that higher translaminar pressure difference (TPD) was associated with lower mean deviation (MD) and higher pattern standard deviation (PSD). ICP was significantly associated with the lowest averaged pattern deviation (PD) scores in the nasal VF zone.