The following is a summary of “Association of foveal avascular zone change and glaucoma progression,” published in the December 2023 issue of Opthalmology by Nishida et al.
Researchers started a retrospective study to investigate the association between longitudinal changes in foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area and glaucoma’s structural and functional progression rate.
They studied 115 eyes (46 glaucoma suspects and 66 primary open-angle glaucoma) from 81 patients, with a follow-up of ≥2 years and ≥4 visits using optical coherence tomography angiography and visual field (VF). Eyes with a slope beyond the 95th percentile were FAZ progressors; the rest were FAZ non-progressors. The link between FAZ progressors and demographic and clinical traits was probed using a mixed-effect model.
The results showed accelerated thinning of the ganglion cell complex (GCC) and a loss in visual field MD in eyes exhibiting FAZ progress, as opposed to those classified as FAZ non-progressors (mean difference: −0.7 (95% CI, −1.4 to −0.1) µm/y; P=0.026, −0.3 (−0.5 to −0.1) dB/y; P=0.017, respectively). While whole-image vessel density showed no correlation with FAZ progressors (P=0.929), separate multivariable models revealed associations of standard deviation of intraocular pressure (IOP) and IOP range with FAZ progressors (OR: 1.54 (1.02 to 2.32) per 1 mm Hg higher, P=0.041; OR: 1.20 (1.01 to 1.41) per 1 mm Hg higher; P=0.035, respectively).
They concluded that larger FAZ in glaucoma was weakly linked to faster retinal and visual loss, not vessel changes.
Source: bjo.bmj.com/content/early/2023/12/22/bjo-2023-323970
