Eyes with normal tension primary open-angle glaucoma may have more rigid retinal vessels

J Glaucoma. 2011;20(5):303-306.

Untreated normal tension primary open-angle glaucoma may be associated with stiffer retinal vessels, and there may also be a correlation between stiffness and the degree of glaucomatous damage, a study showed.

The cross-sectional study assessed the inferotemporal retinal vessels of 22 eyes with glaucoma and 25 controls using a Retinal Vessel Analyzer (Imedos). Stratus optical coherence tomography (Carl Zeiss Meditec) was used to determine inferotemporal peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, and choroid-to-retina pulse delay served as an indicator of vessel rigidity.

Average choroid-to-retina pulse delay was shorter in eyes with normal tension primary open-angle glaucoma. Additionally, retinal nerve fiber layer showed an opposite correlation with choroid-to-retina pulse delay in the two patient groups.

According to the study authors, higher endothelin-1 levels may be a common denominator of increased vessel stiffness and more advanced glaucomatous damage, but the possibility was not assessed in this analysis.

Moreover, prospective studies are needed to determine if there is a causal relationship between changes in the retinal vessels and glaucomatous damage, as well as whether vessel rigidity may be influenced by therapy.