Patients
optic nerve /, POAG, opacity, glaucomatous optic disk, cataract, non-glaucomatous optic, ocular trauma, glaucoma, pre-perimetric glaucoma, SE, trauma
SYSTEMIC DISEASE, OPACITY, OPTIC NERVE, RETINAL DISEASES, CATARACT, PRIMARY OPEN ANGLE GLAUCOMA, GLAUCOMA, SCARRING
This cross-sectional comparative study included one hundred fifty-two eyes of 76 participants. All participants were recruited from the outpatient clinics of Benha University Hospital. 72 eyes of 36 patients with primary open angle glaucoma (glaucoma group) with a mean age of (40.2 ± 4.39) and 80 eyes of 40 healthy subjects (control group) with a mean age of (40.5 ± 4.02).This study was approved by the local ethics committee (Benha Faculty of Medicine Research Ethics Committee) and written informed consent, which were in compliance with the requirements of the Declaration of Helsinki, was obtained from all participants and the study was retrospectively registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier, NCT05104294).The clinical diagnosis of POAG was made after the demonstration of changes in the optic disk on clinical examination, e.g., optic nerve rim defect (localized thinning or notching), presence of visual field defects and open angle on gonioscopy. The pre-perimetric glaucoma eyes had characteristic glaucomatous optic disk changes, without presence of visual field defects.The severity of POAG was determined according to visual field testing, patients with a global mean deviation (MD) less than − 6 dB were defined as "mild" POAG and patients with a global MD more than − 6 dB were defined as "moderate-severe" POAG.Our inclusion criteria for both control and glaucoma groups were: age 30 years and older, spherical equivalent (SE) between − 2 and + 2 D, with no history of trauma or any previous ocular surgery, or systemic diseases. Normal healthy participants had normal ophthalmological examination, with non-glaucomatous optic disks, IOP less than 20 mm Hg and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 6/9 or better.Our exclusion criteria were as follows: SE more than + / − 2 diopters (D), history of any ocular surgeries, ocular trauma, optic nerve / macular or other retinal diseases, media opacity (cataract or corneal scarring), and unreliable visual field results (33% false positive, false negative or fixation losses).