Systemic Arterial Stiffness and Choroidal Microvascular Insufficiency on the Structural Progression of Normal Tension Glaucoma

Abstract

Purpose: To identify the role of systemic arterial stiffness and choroidal microvascular insufficiency on structural progression of normal-tension glaucoma (NTG). Design: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: A total of 107 early NTG eyes of 88 patients, who underwent pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurements and optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography (OCT-A) at baseline, were categorized depending on the presence of peripapillary choroidal microvasculature dropout (MvD) and PWV. Differences in glaucomatous progression were analyzed. Structural progression rates were determined using the trend-based analysis of Cirrus OCT. Results: Thirty-two eyes displayed choroidal MvD (62.7 [95% CI 58.4-67.0] years old, 53.6% males), and 70 eyes did not show any MvD (59.9 (95% CI 57.1-62.6) years old, 53.3% males) at baseline. Patients were followed for 48.4 (95% CI 40.0-56.8) months. When they were further divided based on PWV (high PWV ≥ 1400 cm/sec), those with choroidal MvD and high PWV showed significantly faster thinning in macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL; P = .023). In comparison to those with low PWV and no MvD, eyes with high PWV and MvD in the peripapillary area were likely to show fast structural progression (≤-1.2 µm/year) in the macular GCIPL by odds of 6.019 (95% CI 1.619-38.531, P = .025). Conclusions: In NTG eyes, GCIPL thinning was faster when choroidal MvD and high systemic arterial stiffness were present. The simultaneous presence of regional and systemic vascular insufficiency may be associated with rapid glaucoma structural progression in eyes with low baseline intraocular pressure.