Longitudinal In Vivo Changes in Radial Peripapillary Capillaries and Optic Nerve Head Structure in Non-Human Primates With Early Experimental Glaucoma

PURPOSE. There is conflicting evidence regarding whether a loss of radial peripapillary capillaries (RPCs) precedes neuronal loss in glaucoma. We examined the time course of in vivo changes in RPCs, optic nerve head (ONH) structure, and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) in experimental glaucoma (EG). METHODS. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography images were acquired before and approximately every two weeks after inducing unilateral EG in nine rhesus monkeys to quantify mean anterior lamina cribrosa surface depth (ALCSD), minimum rim width (MRW), and RNFLT. Perfused RPC density was measured from adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope images acquired on the temporal half of the ONH. The time of first significant change was quantified as when values fell and remained outside of the 95% confidence interval established from control eyes. RESULTS. Mean ALCSD and/or MRW were the first parameters to change in eight EG eyes. RPC density changed first in the ninth. At their first points of change, mean ALCSD posteriorly deformed by 100.2 +/- 101.2 mu m, MRW thinned by 82.3 +/- 65.9 mu m, RNFLT decreased by 25 +/- 14 mu m, and RPC density decreased by 4.5 +/- 2.1%. RPC density decreased before RNFL thinning in 5 EG eyes. RNFLT decreased before RPC density decreased in two EG eyes, whereas two EG eyes had simultaneous changes. CONCLUSIONS. In most EG eyes, RPC density decreased before (or simultaneous with) a change in RNFLT, suggesting that vascular factors may play a role in axonal loss in some eyes in early glaucoma.

Automated summary

This study aimed to explore whether a loss of radial peripapillary capillaries (RPCs) precedes neuronal loss in glaucoma, and found that in most eyes with experimental glaucoma (EG), RPC density decreased before (or simultaneous with) a change in retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT), suggesting that vascular factors may play a role in axonal loss in early glaucoma.