RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BLOOD PERFUSION IN MACULAR REGION, STRUCTURE AND VISUAL FUNCTIONS IN DIFFERENT COURSES OF NON-ARTERITIC ANTERIOR ISCHEMIC OPTIC NEUROPATHY

Yanwen Chen^{1, #}, Yufang Du^{2, #}, Yajuan Chen^{3, *}

¹Department of Ophthalmology, Wuhan Fourth Hospital, Puai Hospital,Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, 430000, PR China - ²Department of Operating room, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu,

Sichuan, 610041, PR China - ³Department of Neurology, Wuhan Fourth Hospital, Puai Hospital,Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, 430000, PR China

Objective: To investigate the correlation between macular blood perfusion and structure/visual function in acute, subacute and chronic stages of Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. 

Methods: 75 Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy patients admitted to our hospital from January 2015 to March 2020 and 75 healthy people who underwent physical examination in the same period were included in this study. The baseline clinical data, macular vessel density, macular and optic disc structure indicators of 2 groups were compared. Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neu-ropathy patients were divided into subgroups by different stages, and the differences between different subgroups in terms of superficial macular vessel density were analyzed. Pearson method was used to evaluate the correlation between superficial macular vessel density and macular structure and visual function in Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. 

Results: The superficial macular vessel density in Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy group was significantly lower than that in healthy group (P<0.05). There were significant differences between different subgroups in superficial vessel density in the full, parafoveal and perifoveal macular regions (P<0.05). The cup-to-disc ratio and ganglion cell complex thickness in Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy group were significantly lower than those in healthy group (P<0.05). The optic disc area, general loss of volume and focal loss of volume in Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy group were significantly higher than those in healthy group (P<0.05). The results of Pearson correlation analysis showed that in Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy group, superficial vessel density in all macular regions was positively correlated with ganglion cell complex thickness, average light sensitivity and RNFL thickness of optic disc (P<0.05).

Conclusion: A marked drop is observed in the macular vessel density of the affected eyes of Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy patients, and macular blood perfusion is closely related to structure/visual function in acute, subacute and chronic stages.