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Patients with thicker retinal nerve fiber layer show more diffuse retinal nerve fiber loss
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BOSTON — No constant retinal nerve fiber layer decline was found in patients with preperimetric glaucoma, according to a poster presentation at the World Glaucoma Congress here.
Csilla Ajtony, MD, and colleagues at the University of Pécs in Pécs, Hungary, evaluated the rate and pattern of visual field changes in preperimetric glaucoma. The study examined 112 eyes of 112 patients with optic nerve head changes typical for glaucoma but no visual function changes.
In the study, 23 eyes (20%) had visual field progression during 3.7 years of follow-up, of which 16 (69%) were patients with average retinal nerve fiber layer less than 80 µm at baseline. Patients with thicker retinal nerve fiber layers lost 2.44 µm per year and had a more diffuse pattern of retinal nerve fiber loss.
The authors said the results — even with individual variability — support mean retinal nerve fiber layer thickness around 70 µm, representing "a profound threshold value in glaucomatous structural changes. Implications of these findings may have importance when evaluating progress on the disease."