The Relationship between Intraocular Pressure and Optic Nerve Structural and Functional Damage in Patients with Optic Nerve Head Drusen

Cláudia Oliveira-Ferreira; Mariana Leuzinger-Dias; João Tavares-Ferreira; Olinda Faria; F Falcão-Reis

doi:10.1080/01658107.2019.1691242

The Relationship between Intraocular Pressure and Optic Nerve Structural and Functional Damage in Patients with Optic Nerve Head Drusen

Neuroophthalmology. 2019 Dec 12;44(5):290-293. doi: 10.1080/01658107.2019.1691242. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Cláudia Oliveira-Ferreira¹, Mariana Leuzinger-Dias¹, João Tavares-Ferreira¹, Olinda Faria^{1

2}, F Falcão-Reis^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Ophthalmology Department, Centro Hospitalar São João, Oporto, Portugal.
² Surgery and Physiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Porto University, Oporto, Portugal.

Abstract

The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate if, in ocular normotensive patients, at the time of diagnosis of optic nerve head drusen (ONHD), perimetric mean deviation (PMD) on visual field (VF) examination and retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness on optical coherence tomography correlated with intraocular pressure (IOP). There was a significant association between IOP and PMD (Spearman's rho = -0.863, p < .01) and between IOP and RNFL thickness (Spearman's rho = -0.630, p < .01). A higher IOP was associated with a greater functional loss in the VF and a reduction in the RNFL thickness. These results suggest that a clinical trial of IOP reduction should be considered in patients with ONHD to decrease the progression of optic nerve damage over time.

Keywords: Optic nerve head drusen; intraocular pressure; retinal nerve fibre layer; visual field.