Changes in the optic nerve head induced by horizontal eye movements.

PURPOSE:To investigate the effect of eye movement on the optic nerve head (ONH) using swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT), and to measure the degree of ONH changes. METHODS:We enrolled 52 healthy subjects, 20 to 40 years of age, and performed a prospective observational study. Both ON...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Won June Lee, Yu Jeong Kim, Ji Hong Kim, Sunjin Hwang, Seung Hak Shin, Han Woong Lim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2018-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6143247?pdf=render
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Summary:PURPOSE:To investigate the effect of eye movement on the optic nerve head (ONH) using swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT), and to measure the degree of ONH changes. METHODS:We enrolled 52 healthy subjects, 20 to 40 years of age, and performed a prospective observational study. Both ONH and macula were imaged simultaneously using wide volume scan of the SS-OCT in the primary and different gaze positions. Horizontal eye movements were used to obtain OCT images in abducted and adducted eyeball positions. Multilateral 3-dimensional registration was used to process and analyze the images to measure the degree of ONH changes. RESULTS:The mean axial length (AXL) was 25.73 ± 1.42mm and the mean spherical equivalents was -4.49 ± 2.94 D (The proportion of high myopia was 39.4%). Significant morphologic changes were observed in the ONH during both abduction and adduction. In abduction, the overall ONH tissues were elevated, and the mean area of elevation was 115,134 ± 9,424 μm2 (p<0.001). In adduction, the mean areas from two perspectives, which were nasal or temporal, and peripapillary tissues or optic nerve cupping were 95,277 ± 73,846 μm2, 34,450 ± 44,948 μm2, -108,652 ± 91,246 μm2, and -30,581 ± 46,249 μm2, respectively. Elevation in abduction (overall, nasal cup segment, and temporal cup segment; R = 0.204, 0.195 and 0.225, p = 0.038, 0.047 and 0.021, respectively) and elevation of nasal peripapillary segments in adduction were positively correlated with AXL (R = 0.346, p<0.001). CONCLUSION:We found significant morphologic changes in the ONH in both abduction and adduction and these changes were associated with AXL. Considering these morphologic changes as physical properties, it allows a better understanding of the biomechanical characteristics of the ONH.
ISSN:1932-6203