Relationship between peripapillary vessel density and visual function based on Garway-Heath sectorization in open-angle glaucoma.

PURPOSE

To investigate the relationship between peripapillary vessel density (pVD) and visual field sensitivity (VFS) and between peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (pRNFLT) and VFS, based on Garway-Heath sectorization in open-angle glaucoma patients.

METHODS

Sixty-six eyes of healthy subjects and 84 eyes of glaucoma subjects were included. All subjects underwent several eye examinations, including standard automated perimetry and optical coherence tomography angiography. Sectoral structure-function relationships based on the Garway-Heath sectorization were compared among normal subjects, the 'mild glaucoma,' and 'moderate-to-severe glaucoma' group. Multivariate analyses were performed for each sector to determine the factors related to VFS. The diagnostic abilities of vessel density parameters and RNFLT were evaluated by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC).

RESULTS

The correlation between pVD-VFS and pRNFLT-VFS was statistically significant in the glaucoma group independent of the VFS sector. In the glaucoma group, VFS in the temportal sector was statistically related in a multivariate model to pVD, pRNFLT and age (R = 0.721; P = 0.007, < 0.001, .15, respectively). We found pRNFLT and age were significantly associated with VFS in glaucoma. The AUROC values of pVD in the inferotemporal sector of the total, mild, and moderate-to-severe glaucoma (0.843, 0.714, and 0.972, respectively) were comparable to pRNFLT in this sector (0.833, 0.718, 0.948, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Since the relationship between pVD and VFS in the papillomacular area was significant, measuring pVD and RNFLT in the corresponding area will be valuable in expanding our pathophysiologic knowledge of the paracentral field defects in glaucoma.