SU-F-I-18: Altered Visual Cortex Responses by Wide-View FMRI in Primary Open Angle Glaucoma Patients

Purpose: Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is a common ocular disorder with progressive retinal ganglion cell loss. This study explored the application of wide view fMRI to evaluate neural activity of the whole visual cortex and its relation with visual field functions in POAG patients. Methods: Nine subjects with diagnosed POAG (age: 59.9±10.9 y.o., 4 males) and nine age-matched healthy volunteers (age: 58.0±4.6 y.o., 6 males) were scanned on a 3T Siemens scanner. For each subject, wide view (110°) visual stimulation of a rotating wedge was performed during fMRI acquisition. T1-MPRAGE was used to acquire anatomical images as a reference. fMRI signal percent change was calculated for quadrant areas of the visual field for each subject. Group comparison was performed using non-parametric Mann-Whitney test with Bonferroni correction. In POAG patients, indices of visual field score and retina layer thickness from each quadrant were correlated with the corresponding fMRI percent changes by Spearman’s method. P