Parapapillary chorioretinal atrophy in normal-pressure glaucoma.

Parapapillary chorioretinal atrophy has been shown to be associated with glaucomatous optic nerve damage. We sought to determine whether eyes with normal-pressure glaucoma have an unusually large parapapillary atrophy as compared to eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma. Color stereoscopic optic disk photographs of 34 patients with normal-pressure glaucoma and 283 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma were morphometrically analyzed. Both groups were matched for neuroretinal rim area and visual field loss. Severely myopic eyes were excluded. The parapapillary atrophy was differentiated into a peripheral Zone Alpha with irregular pigmentation and a central Zone Beta with visible sclera. Zones Alpha and Beta did not differ significantly between the two groups in either frequency or size. Eyes with normal-pressure glaucoma do not have an abnormally large parapapillary atrophy as compared to eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma, which is diagnostically and pathogenetically important.