Comparison of Optic Nerve Head Microvasculature Between Normal-Tension Glaucoma and Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy

PURPOSE. To compare the microvasculature of the optic nerve head (ONH) and peripapillary tissues in eyes with normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) and nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). METHODS. Thirty-eight eyes with treatment-naive NTG, 38 eyes with NAION matched for retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in each superior and inferior quadrant, and 38 healthy eyes matched by age were included. ONH and peripapillary retinal microvasculature was evaluated in en face images obtained using OCTA. Vessel density (VD) was calculated as the percent area occupied by vessels in the measured region in each layer segmented into the prelaminar tissue (PLT), lamina cribrosa (LC), and peripapillary retina (PR). RESULTS. VDs in the PLT and LC were lower in NTG eyes than in both NAION and healthy eyes (P <= 0.008), and did not differ between the NAION and healthy eyes. VDs in the PR did not differ between the NTG and NAION eyes. In intersectoral comparisons, VDs in the PLT (P = 0.030) and LC (P = 0.028) were lower in the affected than in the unaffected sector of eyes with NTG, but the differences did not occur in eyes with NAION. VD in the PR was lower in the affected than in the unaffected sector in both NTG and NAION eyes (both P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS. Despite similar degrees of RNFL loss and VD decreases in the PR, VDs in the ONH differed between eyes with NTG and NAION, indicating different mechanisms of vascular impairment and ONH damage in each condition.

Automated summary

The microvasculature of the optic nerve head and peripapillary tissues in eyes with normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) and nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) was compared using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Despite similar levels of retinal nerve fiber layer loss and vessel density decreases in the peripapillary retina, there were differences in vessel densities in the optic nerve head between NTG and NAION eyes, suggesting distinct mechanisms of vascular impairment and optic nerve head damage in each condition.