Structural and functional characteristics of patients with simple primary and pseudoexfoliation open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension. Part 1
OBJECTIVE: To study the features of structural and functional characteristics in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PEG) (including the fellow eye without glaucoma) and ocular hypertension (OH). METHODS: At the onset of the disease we analyzed the average intraocular pressure level; the average retinal photosensitivity deviation (MD) and the standard photosensitivity deviation (PSD), measured in the course of threshold perimetry. At the time of inclusion in the study the patients underwent visometry, tonometry, elastoto-nometry, computer perimetry, optical coherence tomography, pachymetry (Spectralis OCT, "Heidelberg Engineering", Germany), kerato-refractometry, orbital vessels ultrasound dopplerography (USDG) (data will be presented in the second part of the publication). RESULTS: Taking into account the patients' age, we noted a statistically significant increase of the retinal fiber nerve layer (RFNL) thickness only in the «PEG-» group compared to POAG and PEG, with no significant differences from the OH and norm groups, which fully agrees with the functional differences (MD) obtained by groups. Thus, the observation groups are comparable in terms of their structural characteristics, and it is consistent with the generally accepted changes at the initial stage of glaucoma. CONCLUSION: Structural and functional changes at the initial stages of POAG and PEG are quite comparable with normal and OH patients, moreover in the «PEG-» group we observed the most prominent invariability of structural and functional characteristics. Thus, at the initial stage of the pathological process, the structural and functional characteristics cannot serve as reliable markers in diagnosing and predicting the development of glaucoma process, which is especially important for patients with OH and PEG-.