Purpose.: To assess the relationship between visual function and macular ganglion cell complex (GCC) thickness measured by Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) and to evaluate the diagnostic value of GCC thickness for detecting early, moderate, and severe glaucoma. Methods.: Participants underwent reliable standard automated perimetry testing and OCT imaging with optic nerve head (ONH) mode and GCC mode within a single day. The relationship between structure and function was evaluated by comparing GCC thickness with mean deviation (MD) and visual field index (VFI), by regression analysis. The results were compared with those obtained for retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to determine the relationship between disease severity and glaucomatous changes in RNFL and GCC parameters. Results.: One hundred three normal control subjects and 138 patients with glaucoma were included in the present study. Compared with linear models, second-order polynomial models better described the relationships between GCC thickness and MD (P < 0.001), and between GCC thickness and VFI (P < 0.001). A GCC pattern parameter, global loss volume (GLV), had the highest AUC for detecting early glaucoma. The AUC of mean GCC thickness for early glaucoma was higher than that of mean RNFL; however, the difference was not significant (P = 0.330). Conclusions.: A curvilinear function best described the relationship between VF sensitivity and GCC thickness. Macular GCC thickness and RNFL thickness showed similar diagnostic performance for detecting early, moderate, and severe glaucoma.

Purpose.: To assess the relationship between macular retinal thickness and volume and age, sex, and refractive error/axial length with spectral domain–optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Methods.: One randomly selected eye of 198 consecutive ophthalmically normal subjects (104 men, 94 women) between July 2008 and January 2009, with corrected visual acuities better than 20/30 were included in this cross-sectional study. Complete ophthalmic examination, axial length measurement with a laser interferometer, and macular cube 512 × 128 scan by SD-OCT were performed. Results.: The mean age was 55.6 ± 16.4 years (range, 17–83), average refractive error was −2.17 ± 4.82 (range, −23.50–3.75), and average axial length was 24.73 ± 1.98 mm (range, 21.52–32.51). The central subfield thickness, average inner macular thickness, and overall macular volume were significantly lower in the female subjects (partial correlation: P = 0.009, P = 0.027, and P = 0.042, respectively). As age increased, average inner macular thickness, average outer macular thickness, overall average macular thickness, and macular volume decreased significantly (partial correlation: P = 0.002, P = 0.002, P = 0.002, and P = 0.000, respectively). Refractive error had no significant influence in partial correlation analysis. Axial length correlated negatively with average outer macular thickness, overall average macular thickness, and macular volume (partial correlation: P = 0.006, P = 0.044, and P = 0.003, respectively). Conclusions.: In normal subjects, SD-OCT showed that retinal thickness is related to age, sex, and axial length, with regional variations.

Aim To compare the diagnostic ability to detect glaucomatous changes between peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness and the macular ganglion cell complex (GCC) in highly myopic patients using Fourier domain optical coherence tomography. Methods Participants, consecutively enrolled from January 2009 to June 2009, were imaged with RTVue-100 (NHM4 and MM7 scan). The sensitivity and specificity of a colour code less than 5% (red or yellow) for glaucoma diagnosis were calculated. Area under the receiver operator characteristic (AUROC) curves were generated to assess the ability of each parameter to detect glaucomatous changes. Results 73 normal controls and 77 glaucoma patients were included. Participants were categorised as 105 non-high myopes (spherical equivalent >−6.0 dioptres) and 45 high myopes (Spherical equivalent ≤−6.0 dioptres). The GCC thickness showed a strong correlation with RNFL thickness (correlation coefficient=0.763, p<0.001) in all participants. The sensitivity from superior GCC colour code was significantly higher than that from superior RNFL (p=0.019). The ability to detect glaucomatous changes in the highly myopic group by examining the average GCC thickness (AUROC, GCC; 0.889) was higher than when examining RNFL thickness (AUROC, RNFL; 0.825); however, there was no statistical significance (p=0.442). Conclusions The ability to diagnose glaucoma with macular GCC thickness was comparable with that with peripapillary RNFL thickness in high-myopia patients. Macular GCC thickness measurements may be a good alternative or a complementary measurement to RNFL thickness assessment in the clinical evaluation of glaucoma in patients with high myopia.

Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) and anthocyanins are considered beneficial for various vascular diseases. This study was performed to evaluate the effect of GBE and anthocyanins on visual function in patients with normal tension glaucoma (NTG) based on the vascular theory of mechanisms of glaucomatous optic nerve damage. Retrospective analysis was carried out by a chart review of 332 subjects (209 men and 123 women) who were treated with anthocyanins ( n =132), GBE ( n =103), or no medication (control, n =97). Humphrey Visual Field (HVF) test, logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution best-corrected visual acuity (logMAR BCVA), intraocular pressure, blood pressure, and fasting blood glucose were determined before and after treatment. Complete ocular and systemic examinations were performed. The mean follow-up duration was 23.82±9.84 (range, 12–59) months; the mean anthocyanin treatment duration was 24.32±10.43 (range, 6–53) months, and the mean GBE treatment duration was 23.81±10.36 months (range, 6–59) months. After anthocyanin treatment, the mean BCVA for all eyes improved from 0.16 (±0.34) to 0.11 (±0.18) logMAR units ( P =.008), and HVF mean deviation improved from −6.44 (±7.05) to −5.34 (±6.42) ( P =.001). After GBE treatment, HVF mean deviation improved from −5.25 (±6.13) to −4.31 (±5.60) ( P =.002). A generalized linear model demonstrated that the final BCVA was not affected by demographic differences among the groups. These results suggest that anthocyanins and GBE may be helpful in improving visual function in some individuals with NTG.

Systemic hypertension is thought to increase the risk for developing open-angle glaucoma (OAG) through several mechanisms. However, previous epidemiological studies have shown conflicting results regarding this potential association. We systematically evaluated this issue by conducting a meta-analysis of population-based studies. A comprehensive search for articles published before 31 March 2014 was performed using PubMed, Embase, and reference lists. The pooled odds ratio (OR) was calculated using the fixed- and random-effects models, and meta-regression was performed according to age. Subgroup analyses were also conducted, and publication bias was assessed using a funnel plot and Egger’s regression test. This meta-analysis included 16 studies involving 60,084 individuals, with substantial homogeneity among the studies. The pooled OR for OAG was 1.22 (95% confidence interval, CI: 1.09–1.36) using the fixed-effects model and 1.22 (95% CI: 1.08–1.37) using the random-effects model in all included studies. For subgroup analyses, the pooled OR for high-tension glaucoma (HTG) was higher than that for normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) (OR = 1.92 and 0.94, respectively). No significant difference was detected between Asian and Western populations, and no publication bias was detected in either analysis. Systemic hypertension increases the risk for developing OAG, especially in those with HTG.