Influence of Cilioretinal Arteries on Flow Density in Glaucoma Patients Measured Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography
It has long been speculated whether the presence of a cilioretinal artery (CRA) can influence the development of glaucomatous damage in patients with open-angle glaucoma. Studies involving healthy patients have shown a change in flow density (FD) depending on the presence of a CRA. Similarly, studie...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/12/7/2458 |
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| author | Julian Alexander Zimmermann Jens Julian Storp Raphael Diener Moritz Fabian Danzer Eliane Luisa Esser Nicole Eter Viktoria Constanze Brücher |
| author_facet | Julian Alexander Zimmermann Jens Julian Storp Raphael Diener Moritz Fabian Danzer Eliane Luisa Esser Nicole Eter Viktoria Constanze Brücher |
| author_sort | Julian Alexander Zimmermann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | It has long been speculated whether the presence of a cilioretinal artery (CRA) can influence the development of glaucomatous damage in patients with open-angle glaucoma. Studies involving healthy patients have shown a change in flow density (FD) depending on the presence of a CRA. Similarly, studies that compared the optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) results of healthy controls and glaucoma cohorts identified a reduction in FD in certain retinal layers for glaucoma patients. These observations raise the question of whether FD is altered in glaucoma patients depending on the presence of CRA, with possible implications for the progression of glaucomatous damage. In this prospective study, 201 eyes of 134 primary and secondary open-angle glaucoma patients who visited the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Muenster Medical Center, Germany were included. The patients were allocated to different groups according to the presence of CRAs and the level of glaucoma severity. The FD results obtained using OCTA for the CRA and non-CRA groups were compared. While FD differed noticeably between the CRA and non-CRA cohorts in the deep macular plexus, no differences in FD were observed between the two groups when adjusted for glaucoma severity. In both the CRA and non-CRA eyes, increasing glaucoma severity correlated most strongly with a reduction in peripapillary FD. Our results suggest that the presence of CRAs does not significantly affect retinal perfusion in glaucoma patients. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:34:16Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0383 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:34:16Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
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| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-caa73b4f629346d0937d0df29b4fbb1f2023-11-17T16:57:26ZengMDPI AGJournal of Clinical Medicine2077-03832023-03-01127245810.3390/jcm12072458Influence of Cilioretinal Arteries on Flow Density in Glaucoma Patients Measured Using Optical Coherence Tomography AngiographyJulian Alexander Zimmermann0Jens Julian Storp1Raphael Diener2Moritz Fabian Danzer3Eliane Luisa Esser4Nicole Eter5Viktoria Constanze Brücher6Department of Ophthalmology, University of Muenster Medical Center, 48149 Muenster, GermanyDepartment of Ophthalmology, University of Muenster Medical Center, 48149 Muenster, GermanyDepartment of Ophthalmology, University of Muenster Medical Center, 48149 Muenster, GermanyInstitute of Biostatistics and Clinical Research, University of Muenster, 48149 Muenster, GermanyDepartment of Ophthalmology, University of Muenster Medical Center, 48149 Muenster, GermanyDepartment of Ophthalmology, University of Muenster Medical Center, 48149 Muenster, GermanyDepartment of Ophthalmology, University of Muenster Medical Center, 48149 Muenster, GermanyIt has long been speculated whether the presence of a cilioretinal artery (CRA) can influence the development of glaucomatous damage in patients with open-angle glaucoma. Studies involving healthy patients have shown a change in flow density (FD) depending on the presence of a CRA. Similarly, studies that compared the optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) results of healthy controls and glaucoma cohorts identified a reduction in FD in certain retinal layers for glaucoma patients. These observations raise the question of whether FD is altered in glaucoma patients depending on the presence of CRA, with possible implications for the progression of glaucomatous damage. In this prospective study, 201 eyes of 134 primary and secondary open-angle glaucoma patients who visited the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Muenster Medical Center, Germany were included. The patients were allocated to different groups according to the presence of CRAs and the level of glaucoma severity. The FD results obtained using OCTA for the CRA and non-CRA groups were compared. While FD differed noticeably between the CRA and non-CRA cohorts in the deep macular plexus, no differences in FD were observed between the two groups when adjusted for glaucoma severity. In both the CRA and non-CRA eyes, increasing glaucoma severity correlated most strongly with a reduction in peripapillary FD. Our results suggest that the presence of CRAs does not significantly affect retinal perfusion in glaucoma patients.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/12/7/2458optical coherence tomography angiographyglaucomacilioretinal arteryseverityflow densityvessel density |
| spellingShingle | Julian Alexander Zimmermann Jens Julian Storp Raphael Diener Moritz Fabian Danzer Eliane Luisa Esser Nicole Eter Viktoria Constanze Brücher Influence of Cilioretinal Arteries on Flow Density in Glaucoma Patients Measured Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Journal of Clinical Medicine optical coherence tomography angiography glaucoma cilioretinal artery severity flow density vessel density |
| title | Influence of Cilioretinal Arteries on Flow Density in Glaucoma Patients Measured Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography |
| title_full | Influence of Cilioretinal Arteries on Flow Density in Glaucoma Patients Measured Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography |
| title_fullStr | Influence of Cilioretinal Arteries on Flow Density in Glaucoma Patients Measured Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography |
| title_full_unstemmed | Influence of Cilioretinal Arteries on Flow Density in Glaucoma Patients Measured Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography |
| title_short | Influence of Cilioretinal Arteries on Flow Density in Glaucoma Patients Measured Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography |
| title_sort | influence of cilioretinal arteries on flow density in glaucoma patients measured using optical coherence tomography angiography |
| topic | optical coherence tomography angiography glaucoma cilioretinal artery severity flow density vessel density |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/12/7/2458 |
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