Relations Between Pulsatility in the Optic Nerve Head or Peripapillary Retinal Vessels and the Rate of Progression in Glaucoma.

PURPOSE: Glaucomatous pathophysiology may impair retinal vasodilation, leading to increased upstream pulsatility. We sought to quantify pulsatility at multiple locations, concurrently, and identify changes that correlate with the rate of disease progression.

METHODS

One hundred eighty-one eyes of 139 participants were tested twice annually for six or more visits. Vessels within the optic nerve head (ONH) and peripapillary region were identified and classified as arteries versus veins using deep learning models applied to optical coherence tomography angiography scans. Vessels were then colocalized to high temporal resolution scans from laser speckle flowgraphy to quantify pulsatility and average flow at each location. These were compared against the rates of functional loss (mean deviation from automated perimetry) and structural loss (retinal nerve fiber layer thickness from optical coherence tomography) over time, using linear generalized estimating equation models.

RESULTS

More severe functional and structural loss were correlated with lower blood flow within ONH major vessels (Pearson correlation r = 0.406, P < 0.001 and r = 0.466, P < 0.001, respectively) and tissue (r = 0.432, P < 0.001 and r = 0.466, P < 0.001), and with lower pulsatility in ONH tissue only (r = 0.293, P = 0.001 and r = 0.279, P < 0.001). Higher pulsatility in the peripapillary arteries was correlated with more rapid functional loss (r = -0.220, P = 0.004) and structural loss (r = -0.220, P = 0.006), and remained a significant predictor when adjusting for current severity, age, or IOP.

CONCLUSIONS

Faster glaucomatous progression was associated with increased pulsatility in peripapillary arteries, suggesting impaired downstream retinal vasodilation beyond the ONH and neuroretinal rim.