Optical coherence tomography angiography in juvenile open angle glaucoma: correlation between structure and perfusion

Purpose Juvenile open angle glaucoma (JOAG) is a type of glaucoma that occurs in patients younger than 40 years. Only a few studies have assessed vascular perfusion in JOAG and correlated it with structural damage. The aim of this study is to investigate vascular perfusion in JOAG by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) and correlate it with structural damage, represented by retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thinning. Methods This is a cross-sectional observational study of 25 eyes of patients with JOAG. All patients underwent full ocular examination and scanning by OCTA to measure parameters such as RNFL thickness, peripapillary and disk vascular density. Results Average superior and inferior RNFL thicknesses were 69.4 (± 22.1) and 70.4 (± 25.6) μm, whereas peripapillary and disk vascular densities were 38.2(± 10), and 39.1(± 12) % and superior and inferior vascular densities were 38.1(± 10.5) and 38.2(± 9.7) %. A strong positive correlation was found between the superior and inferior RNFL thickness and the vascular density of the peripapillary region, the disk and the superior and inferior vascular densities ( p