Morphometric change analysis of the optic nerve head in unilateral disk hemorrhage cases.

Abstract

To measure the changes in optic disk morphology after unilateral disk hemorrhage and to compare the changes between eyes. Observational case series. Ten glaucoma patients who had a unilateral disk hemorrhage were enrolled. The baseline measurements obtained by Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT) were performed on both eyes when a disk hemorrhage was detected, and the second measurements were done after an average of 32 +/- 19 months. The amount of change and the percent change in the HRT parameters from the baseline measurements of the hemorrhagic eyes were compared with those of the contralateral nonhemorrhagic eyes. The reduction in the neuroretinal rim area and the decrease in volume were significantly greater in the octant with the disk hemorrhage than measured in the contralateral eyes (P =.002, Wilcoxon signed rank test). This study demonstrated quantitatively that the progression of optic disk damage in glaucoma is faster in eyes with disk hemorrhage than in eyes without disk hemorrhage.