{
  "abstract": "Background/aims To describe the relationship between the novel biomarker retinal nerve fibre layer thickness slope (RNFL-S), and visual field sensitivity (VFS) in healthy and early glaucoma eyes.Methods This prospective cross-sectional study of 50 early glaucoma and 139 healthy eyes analysed RNFL-S locally along retinal nerve fibre trajectories that were automatically traced and centred on 24–2 and 10–2 visual field (VF) test points. Corresponding virtual B-scans were extracted from stitched wide-field polarisation-sensitive optical coherence tomography images. A linear mixed-effects model (LMM) assessed the association between VFS and the factors RNFL-S, glaucoma status and age.Results The average VF mean deviation was −3.11±1.51 dB in glaucoma (mean age: 63.0±9.3 years) and −0.36±1.10 dB in healthy eyes (mean age: 47.9±16.3 years). In healthy subjects, VFS and the corresponding RNFL-S were 31.8±2.4 dB (12.5±2.9 µm/mm) in the upper hemisphere and 32.4±2.2 dB (12.5±2.5 µm/mm) in the lower hemisphere. In glaucoma patients, these values were significantly lower: 27.5±7.0 dB (8.6 ± 3.9 µm/mm, p<0.001) in the upper hemisphere and 30.1±4.3 dB (10.5±3.3 µm/mm, p<0.001) in the lower hemisphere. Significant point-wise Spearman correlation coefficients (up to r=0.61) were observed, particularly in the upper VF hemisphere within the central 10° and close to the optic nerve head. The LMM showed a positive association between VFS and RNFL-S (β=0.0415, SE=0.0023, p<0.001, R²=0.1885). Glaucoma was significantly associated with lower VFS (β=−2.468, SE=0.069, p<0.001). Age negatively correlated with VFS (β=−0.048, SE=0.002, p<0.001).Conclusion Local RNFL-S is significantly correlated with VFS, highlighting its potential as a biomarker for focal glaucoma damage.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria"
      ],
      "name": "Stefan Steiner"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Center for Medical Data Science, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria"
      ],
      "name": "Florian Frommlet"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Research Center for Medical Image Analysis and Artificial Intelligence (MIAAI), Danube Private University, Krems an der Donau, Austria"
      ],
      "name": "Florian Schwarzhans"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Center for Medical Statistics Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Section for Medical Information Management and Imaging, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria"
      ],
      "name": "Georg Fischer"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria"
      ],
      "name": "Maximilian Pirrung"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria"
      ],
      "name": "Michael Pircher"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria"
      ],
      "name": "Christoph Hitzenberger"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria"
      ],
      "name": "Clemens Vass"
    }
  ],
  "title": "The retinal nerve fibre layer thickness slope: a localised biomarker of the structure–function relationship in early glaucoma",
  "uid": "00fe156a-9926-57f0-a711-915916229f32"
}