Deep Optic Nerve Head Morphology Is Associated With Pattern of Glaucomatous Visual Field Defect in Open-Angle Glaucoma.

PURPOSE: We investigated the relationship between visual field (VF) defect pattern and deep optic nerve head (ONH) morphology in open angle glaucoma (OAG) eyes using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

METHODS

Of 278 OAG eyes, 169 with and 55 without externally oblique border tissue (EOBT) were included in the final analysis. Enhance depth imaging SD-OCT was used to measure the deep ONH parameters, such as EOBT length, ONH tilt angle, and optic canal (OC) obliqueness. The extents and locations of the maximum deep ONH parameters were explored according to VF pattern in OAG eyes.

RESULTS

OAG eyes with EOBT showed longer axial length (AL; 25.6 vs. 24.4 mm; P < 0.001) and greater superior VF defects (67.5% vs. 49.1%; P = 0.02) compared to OAG eyes without EOBT. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that relatively inferior location of maximum deep ONH parameters was associated with superior hemifield defects dominant in OAG (P < 0.001 in all parameters). In addition, the locations of maximum deep ONH parameters were consistent with dominant VF defect locations in OAG eyes with AL < 24.5 mm. The presence of paracentral scotoma in OAG was associated with worse mean deviation (MD) and relatively inferior location of deep ONH parameters.

CONCLUSIONS

The locations of maximum deep ONH parameters were associated with the location of dominant VF defects and presence of paracentral scotoma in OAG eyes.