Background
Glaucoma is the neuropathy of the optic nerve with accelerated apoptosis of the
retinal ganglion cells. Optical coherence tomography angiography provides
valuable information about the optic nerve and the retinal circulation as an
auxiliary tool for glaucoma diagnosis and optic nerve saving.
Purpose
To evaluate the performance of optical coherence tomography angiography in
distinguishing primary open-angle glaucoma from healthy eyes by measuring the
radial peripapillary capillary (RPC) vessel density (VD)% and macular superficial
capillary plexus (SCP) VD%.
Patients and methods
A descriptive prospective cross-sectional case–control study was conducted on 60
participants, who were categorized into two groups: group A (30 patients with primary
open-angle glaucoma and group B (30 healthy controls of matched age and sex with
group A). Structural (retinal nerve fiber layer and ganglion cell complex thickness),
functional (the mean deviation, and pattern standard deviation), and vascular
parameters [the VD of RPC in scan 4.5×4.5 mm (in whole image, and the
peripapillary region) and macular SCP in scan 6×6 mm] were compared between
the two groups.
Results
Statistically significant decreases of VD of RPC of the whole disk, the peripapillary
region, and the macular superficial plexus layer were observed in glaucoma eyes
compared with controls (all P