3-T Diffusion tensor imaging of the optic nerve in subjects with glaucoma: correlation with GDx-VCC, HRT-III and Stratus optical coherence tomography findings

• Published in: British journal of ophthalmology Vol. 96; no. 7; pp. 976 - 980
• Main Authors: Nucci, Carlo, Mancino, Raffaele, Martucci, Alessio, Bolacchi, Francesca, Manenti, Guglielmo, Cedrone, Claudio, Culasso, Franco, Floris, Roberto, Cerulli, Luciano, Garaci, Francesco Giuseppe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JR BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 01.07.2012; BMJ Publishing Group; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Aged; Axons - pathology; Biological and medical sciences; Diffusion Tensor Imaging - methods; Epidemiology; Female; GDx-VCC; Glaucoma; Glaucoma and intraocular pressure; Glaucoma, Open-Angle - diagnosis; HRT-III; Humans; imaging; Lasers; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; MRI; ocular surface; Ophthalmology; Ophthalmoscopy - methods; Optic Disk - pathology; optic nerve; Optic Nerve Diseases - diagnosis; orbit; pharmacology; public health; Reproducibility of Results; Retinal Ganglion Cells - pathology; Scanning Laser Polarimetry - methods; Stratus OCT; Tomography, Optical Coherence - methods; Glaucoma; Human; Protozoa; Correlation; Optic nerve; Optical coherence tomography; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Diffusion tensor imaging; Eye disease; Glaucoma (eye); Medical imagery; Ciliata; Ophthalmology
• ISSN: 0007-1161; 1468-2079; 1468-2079
• DOI: 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2011-301280

ObjectivesTo correlate diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) of the optic nerve with morphological indices obtained by scanning laser polarimetry (GDx-VCC); confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (Heidelberg III retinal tomograph; HRT-III) and optical coherence tomography (Stratus OCT).MethodsThirty-six subjects (12 with no eye disease and 24 with perimetrically diagnosed glaucoma) were examined. One eye for each participant was studied with 3-Tesla DTI (with automatic generation of mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) values); GDx-VCC, HRT-III and OCT. Single and multiple regression analyses of all variables studied were performed.ResultsMD displayed the strongest correlation with linear cup/disc ratio (LCDR) from HTR-III (r=0.662), retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness (avThickn) from OCT (r=−0.644), and nerve fibre index (NFI) from GDx (r=0.642); FA was strongly correlated with the LCDR (r=−0.499). In multiple regression analyses, MD correlated with LCDR (p=0.02) when all variables were considered; with avThickn (p<0.01) (analysis of all RNFL parameters); with NFI (p<0.01) (analysis of all GDx parameters); with avThickn (p<0.01) (analysis of OCT parameters); with LCDR (p=0.01) (analysis of HRT-III morphometric parameters) and with linear discriminant function (RB) (p=0.02) (analysis of HRT-III indices). As for FA, it correlated with avThickn (p=0.02) when we analysed the OCT parameters and with RB (p=0.01) (analysis of HRT-III indices).ConclusionsDTI parameters of the axonal architecture of the optic nerve show good correlation with morphological features of the optic nerve head and RNFL documented with GDx-VCC, HRT-III and OCT.