Abstract
Abstract Objective: The goal of the work was to compare the values of the ganglion cell complex (GCC) and the retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) in the same eye. Furthermore, to determine whether there is any correlation between the GCC and RNFL in the same altitudinal half of the retina.
An additional goal was to determine whether there is any correlation between the GCC, RNFL and changes in visual fields (PD-pattern defect and OD-overall defect). The final aim was to carry out these investigations in both hypertension (HTG) and normal-tension glaucomas (NTG).Patients and methods of examination: In the HTG group, there were 25 patients.
This comprised 12 females with an average age of 53.25 (34-69 years) and 13 males with an average age of 60.38 (37-74 years). The second NTG group consisted of 17 females with an average age of 55.35 (25-75 years) and 8 males with an average age of 55.5 (32-69 years).
Inclusion criteria were the following: visual acuity of at least 1.0 after possible correction smaller than +/-3 dioptres. Changes in visual fields were uniform in all patients and related to the incipient glaucoma disease.
There were no other eye or neurological examinations performed. In the NTG patients, the diagnosis was confirmed by electrophysiological examination.
GCC layer thickness was measured using the SD-OCT RTvue-100. A similar procedure was also applied to the RNFL.
The visual field was examined by the fast threshold program of the Medmont M 700 device. Results: In patients with HTG, the GCC superior value was statistically significantly lower than the GCC inferior value.
However, this difference is not clinically significant (87.65 versus 88.75, p=0.03). Also, no statistically significant difference was found between the RNFL values from the upper half versus the lower half of the optic disk.