Correlation between optic nerve head structural parameters and glaucomatous visual field indices

Abstract

We examined associations between optic nerve head structural parameters and glaucomatous visual field indices. The study population included patients with glaucomatous optic neuropathy who were evaluated at Aichi Medical University, Nagakute, Aichi, Japan, from October 2010 to January 2011. A total of 57 eyes from 33 patients were assessed. We measured visual field using a Humphrey field analyzer, peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFL-T), and Bruch’s membrane opening-minimum rim width (BMO-MRW) using spectral domain optical coherence tomography, and rim area with referring three-dimensional photography. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients were calculated between the threshold of visual sensitivity or total deviation of visual field and the following five optic nerve head structural parameters: RNFL-T length, BMO-MRW length, rim area, and calculated RNFL-T and BMO-MRW volumes (each length multiplied by rim area). The Akaike information criterion was calculated to determine which structural parameter was the best predictor of each visual field index. Threshold of visual sensitivity had correlation coefficients of 0.23 with global sector of RNFL-T, 0.32 with BMO-MRW, 0.14 with rim area, 0.21 with RNFL-T volume, and 0.26 with BMO-MRW volume. The correlation coefficients for each parameter with total deviation of visual field were 0.22, 0.33, 0.28, 0.36, and 0.37, respectively. The Akaike information criterion of BMO-MRW showed the smallest values in analyses of both threshold of visual sensitivity and total deviation. The present results show that RNFL-T volume and BMO-MRW volume were more strongly correlated with total deviation than BMO-MRW, but BMO-MRW appeared to be the best predictor of the two glaucomatous visual field indices.