Changes in RNFL Thickness According to the Myopia in Patients with Glaucoma and Ocular Hypertension

Jung Wan Kim; Yong Yeon Kim

doi:10.3341/jkos.2008.49.10.1634

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Wan Kim and Kim: Changes in RNFL Thickness According to the Myopia in Patients with Glaucoma and Ocular Hypertension

Original Article

J Korean Ophthalmol Soc 2008;49(10):1634-1640.

Published online: 7 September 2008

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2008.49.10.1634

Changes in RNFL Thickness According to the Myopia in Patients with Glaucoma and Ocular Hypertension

Jung Wan Kim, M.D, Yong Yeon Kim, M.D., Ph.D.

Department of Ophthalmology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Address reprint requests to Yong Yeon Kim, M.D., Ph.D. Department of Ophthalmology, Guro Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine #80 Guro-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul 152-703, Korea Tel: 82-2-2626-1260, Fax: 82-2-857-8580, E-mail: yongykim@mail.korea.ac.kr

Received 2 July 2008 Accepted 20 November 2007

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the changes in retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness according to the degree of myopia in patients with glaucoma and ocular hypertension.

Methods

Ninety-eight patients (165 eyes) diagnosed with glaucoma or ocular hypertension underwent optical coherence tomography (OCT) and scanning laser polarimetry using variable corneal compensation (GDx-VCC) to analyze the correlation between the degree of myopia and the thickness of the RNFL. A partial correlation coefficient analysis was performed to adjust for various factors such as age, laterality, intraocular pressure, and the mean deviation from visual field test, which can influence the RNFL thickness.

Results

The average, nasal, superior, and inferior sectorial RNFL thicknesses measured by OCT significantly decreased with increasing myopia ( p<0.05). However, RNFL thickness measured by GDx-VCC was not significantly correlated with the degree of myopia.

Conclusions

The RNFL thickness measured by OCT decreased with increasing myopia in eyes with glaucoma and ocular hypertension.

Keywords: GDx-VCC, Myopia, OCT, RNFL thickness

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Figure 1.

Scattergram of the average retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness obtained by optical coherence tomography (y) and the degree of myopia (x). As myopia increased, there was a significant decrease in the average RNFL Thickness obtained by the Stratus OCT ( p=0.000, r=0.323).

Table 1.

Bivariate correlations associated with refraction

		Average (µm)	r*	P value^†
Refraction (diopters)		-2.38±2.65	1
Age (Years)		44.92±13.43	0.430	0.000
IOP (mmHg)		17.76±4.72	-0.089	0.256
MD (dB)		-2.44±2.68	0.050	0.527
Stratus OCT	Avg. Thick	94.98±16.65	0.323	0.000
	Superior	114.85±22.62	0.245	0.001
	Inferior	114.56±26.75	0.284	0.000
	Temporal	74.32±16.54	0.124	0.114
	Nasal	76.22±17.33	0.366	0.000
GDx-VCC	NFI	31±18.12	-0.091	0.243
	TSNIT Avg	49.29±7.36	-0.037	0.635
	Superior	60.55±10.73	-0.006	0.941
	Inferior	58.18±10.69	-0.073	0.352
	TSNIT std. dev.	20.86±5.04	-0.023	0.769

^* Pearson correlation coefficient

^† Pearson test

IOP=Intraocular Pressure; MD=Mean Deviation; Stratus OCT=Stratus optical coherence tomography; GDx-VCC=Scanning Laser Polarimetry with Variable corneal compensation; Avg. Thick=Average retinal nerve fiber layer thickness obtained by optical coherence tomography; NFI=Nerve Fiber Index obtained by scanning laser polarimetry; TSNIT Avg=Average retinal nerve fiber layer thickness obtained by scanning laser polarimetry; TSNIT std. dev.=Standard Deviation of the Average retinal nerve fiber layer thickness obtained by scanning laser polarimetry.

Table 2.

Correlations after adjusting age, sex, laterality, baseline IOP and mean deviatio

		Average (µm)	r*	P value^†
Stratus OCT	Avg. Thick	94.98±16.65	0.287	0.000
	Superior	114.85±22.62	0.265	0.001
	Inferior	114.56±26.75	0.209	0.008
	Temporal	74.32±16.54	0.073	0.363
	Nasal	76.22±17.33	0.317	0.000
GDx-VCC	NFI	31±18.12	-0.114	0.156
	TSNIT Avg	49.29±7.36	-0.097	0.226
	Superior	60.55±10.73	0.014	0.861
	Inferior	58.18±10.69	-0.104	0.195
	TSNIT std. dev.	20.86±5.04	0.086	0.282

^* Pearson correlation coefficient

^† Pearson test

Stratus OCT=Stratus optical coherence tomography; GDx-VCC=Scanning Laser Polarimetry with Variable corneal compensation; Avg. Thick=Average retinal nerve fiber layer thickness obtained by optical coherence tomography; NFI=Nerve Fiber Index obtained by scanning laser polarimetry; TSNIT Avg=Average retinal nerve fiber layer thickness obtained by scanning laser polarimetry; TSNIT std. dev.=Standard Deviation of the Average retinal nerve fiber layer thickness obtained by scanning laser polarimetry.

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