Cerebral glucose metabolism in the striate cortex positively correlates with fractional anisotropy values of the optic radiation in patients with glaucoma

Publisher： John Wiley & Sons Inc

E-ISSN： 1442-9071|43|8|711-719

ISSN： 1442-6404

Source： CLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL OPHTHALMOLOGY, Vol.43, Iss.8, 2015-11, pp. : 711-719

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Abstract

AbstractBackgroundIt has recently become clear that glaucoma is not only an ocular disease, but involves central visual pathways as well. The purpose of this study was to examine functional and structural alterations in the brains of glaucoma patients.DesignCase–control study in a hospital.ParticipantsA total of 32 glaucoma patients and 19 healthy controls.MethodsAll participants underwent positron emission tomography with 18F‐fluorodeoxyglucose, diffusion‐tensor magnetic resonance imaging, and the 30‐2 program of the Humphrey Visual Field Analyzer.Main Outcome MeasuresFractional anisotropy values of the optic radiation were compared between the two groups by defining regions of interests. Cerebral glucose metabolism was compared using statistical parametric mapping software. The correlation coefficients were calculated between the average of the total deviation of hemivisual fields of both eyes, fractional anisotropy values of the contralateral optic radiation and glucose metabolism in the contralateral striate cortex.ResultsFractional anisotropy values in the bilateral optic radiations were significantly lower in patients with glaucoma. A significant glucose hypometabolism in the bilateral striate cortex was also observed in the glaucoma group. Regression analyses for glaucoma patients demonstrated that the average of the total deviation of hemivisual fields significantly correlated with both fractional anisotropy value of the contralateral optic radiation and glucose metabolism in the contralateral striate cortex. Moreover, there were significant correlations between fractional anisotropy values of the optic radiation and ipsilateral striatal glucose metabolism.ConclusionWe observed structural alterations in the bilateral optic radiations and glucose hypometabolism in the bilateral striate cortex of glaucoma patients.