Correlation Between Disc Size and Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in Normal Tension Glaucoma

Young Hoon Hwang; Joo Hwa Lee

doi:10.3341/jkos.2008.49.5.784

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Hwang and Lee: Correlation Between Disc Size and Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in Normal Tension Glaucoma

Original Article

J Korean Ophthalmol Soc 2008;49(5):784-790.

Published online: 7 September 2008

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2008.49.5.784

Correlation Between Disc Size and Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in Normal Tension Glaucoma

Young Hoon Hwang, M.D.¹, Joo Hwa Lee, M.D., Ph.D.²

¹Department of Ophthalmology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

²Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Inje University, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Seoul, Korea

Address reprint requests to Joo Hwa Lee, M.D., Ph.D. Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Inje University, Sanggye Paik Hospital #761-1 Sanggye 7-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul 139-707, Korea Tel: 82-2-950-1096, Fax: 82-2-935-6904, E-mail: joohlee@sanggyepaik.ac.kr

Received 21 August 2007 Accepted 15 January 2008

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 investigate the correlation between optic disc size and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in healthy subjects and patients with normal tension glaucoma (NTG).

Methods

Optical coherence tomography was performed on 50 eyes of 50 healthy subjects and on 50 eyes of 50 NTG patients.

Results

The optic disc size showed a significant correlation with the RNFL thickness in healthy subjects and in patients with NTG. Significant correlations were observed between the optic disc size and the ratio of superior-to-total RNFL thickness (r=-0.283, p=0.049) and the ratio of nasal to total RNFL thickness (r=0.403, p=0.004) in healthy subjects. In patients with NTG, significant correlations were observed between the optic disc size and the ratio of superior to total RNFL thickness (r=-0.314, p=0.029) and the ratio of inferior to total RNFL thickness (r=-0.302, p=0.034).

Conclusions

RNFL thickness increased significantly with an increase in optic disc size in both healthy subjects and NTG patients. The correlation between optic disc size and the ratios of each quadrant to the total RNFL thickness showed a different pattern between healthy subjects and NTG patients.

Keywords: Normal tension glaucoma, Optic disc size, Optical coherence tomography, Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness

References

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Figure 1.

Scatter plot of correlation between optic nerve head area and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in normal eyes (R=0.425, P=0.001).

Figure 2.

Scatter plot of correlation between optic nerve head area and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in normal tension glaucoma eyes (R=0.451, P=0.001).

Table 1.

Comparison of demographic and visual field global indicies between normal eyes and normal tension glaucoma eyes

	Normal (n=50)	Normal Tension Glaucoma (n=50)	∗ P-Value
Age (years)	49.88±10.45	62.84±9.54	0.032
Best Corrected Visual Acuity	0.81±0.16	0.89±0.20	0.661
Spherical Equivalent (diopter)	-1.59±1.85	-1.20±2.54	0.392
Intraocular Pressure (mmHg)	14.06±3.24	14.80±2.52	0.206
Mean Deviation (dB)	-0.96±0.95	-7.11±5.54	<0.001
Pattern Standard Deviation (dB)	1.70±0.45	7.82±4.40	<0.001

^∗ P = ANOVA.

Table 2.

Comparison of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness between normal eyes and normal tension glaucoma eyes

	Normal (n=50)	Normal Tension Glaucoma (n=50)	∗ P-Value
360˚ Average (µm)	99.56±16.92	73.62±21.21	<0.001
Sup Quadrant (µm)	122.44±24.77	88.17±28.31	<0.001
Temp Quadrant (µm)	72.80±13.80	57.20±20.37	<0.001
Inf Quadrant (µm)	127.00±27.01	87.74±32.45	<0.001
Nasal Quadrant (µm)	75.68±16.41	61.02±15.34	<0.001

^∗ P = ANOVA.

Table 3.

Comparison of optic nerve head analysis between normal eyes and normal tension glaucoma eyes

	Normal (n=50)	Normal Tension Glaucoma (n=50)	∗ P-Value
Disc Area (mm²)	2.60±0.59	2.60±0.60	0.996
Cup Area (mm²)	1.31±0.69	1.95±0.76	<0.001
Rim Area (mm²)	1.28±0.52	0.64±0.42	<0.001
Cup/Disc Area Ratio	0.49±0.21	0.74±1.89	<0.001
Cup/Disc Horizontal Ratio	0.73±0.17	0.87±1.32	<0.001
Cup/Disc Vertical Ratio	0.64±0.15	0.82±0.13	<0.001

^∗ P = ANOVA.

Table 4.

Correlation between optic disc size and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in normal eyes and normal tension glaucoma eyes

	Normal (n=50)		Normal Tension Glaucoma (n=50)
	R∗	P^† Value	R∗	P^† Value
360˚ Average (µm)	0.425	0.001	0.451	0.001
Sup Quadrant (µm)	0.345	0.025	0.352	0.012
Temp Quadrant (µm)	0.307	0.031	0.298	0.039
Inf Quadrant (µm)	0.412	0.002	0.329	0.020
Nasal Quadrant (µm)	0.323	0.022	0.327	0.021

^∗ R = Pearson's correlation coefficien;

^† P = Pearson's correlation.

Table 5.

Correlation between optic disc size and the ratio of each quadrant to the total retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in normal eyes and normal tension glaucoma eyes

	Normal (n=50)		Normal Tension Glaucoma (n=50)
	R∗	P^† Value	R∗	P^† Value
Sup / Total	-0.283	0.049	-0.314	0.029
Temp / Total	0.057	0.694	0.165	0.273
Inf / Total	-0.217	0.130	-0.302	0.034
Nasal / Total	0.403	0.004	0.184	0.210

^∗ R = Pearson's correlation coefficient;

^† P = Pearson's correlation.

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