Assessment of Peripapillary Choroidal Microvasculature and Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Primary Open Angle Glaucoma Patients

Abstract Background Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness, affecting over 70 million people worldwide. It is a multifactorial neurodegenerative disease characterized by loss of retinal ganglion cells and damage to the optic nerve, leading to progressive and permanent vision loss. This study aimed to evaluate and characterize the presence of peripapillary choroidal microvasculature dropout in primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) patients’ optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) and its relation with retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness. Methods This study was conducted at Suez Canal University hospital on patients attending Ophthalmology clinic with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). Patients were divided into two groups. Group A: Including 41 patients with primary open angle glaucoma controlled with medical treatment. Group B: Including normal 41 individuals without any ocular pathology. Result There was highly statistically significant difference between studied groups regarding total NFL Thickness, Superior, and Inferior sectors with P-value (< 0.001, < 0.001, < 0.001) respectively. Also, there was highly statistically significant difference between study groups regarding Peripapillary vessel density (whole image) with P-value < 0.001. Conclusion This study demonstrated that primary open angle glaucoma patients had Choroidal microvasculature drop-out and was associated with thinner nerve fiber layer thickness. We concluded that peripapillary choroidal microvasculature dropout was observed in PAOG eyes and it is associated with RNFL thinning. Using OCTA to investigate the choroidal microvasculature may facilitate diagnoses of glaucoma in PAOG patients.