Peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer and macular ganglion cell complex thickness in patients with chronic phase of nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy

Objective: We aimed to investigate the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) and macular ganglion cell complex (mGCC) thickness in patients with chronic phase of nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (crNAION) analyzed by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Methods: Patients with crNAION, and healthy control subjects were enrolled in the study. All participants underwent SD-OCT for measurement of pRNFL, mGCC, and central macular thickness (CMT). The measurements of the eyes of the patients with crNAION were compared with those of the control subjects and unaffected fellow eyes. Results: A total of 25 patients with crNAION were eligible for the study. The control group consisted of 50 healthy subjects. The pRNFL and mGCC thickness in eyes with crNAION were found to be significantly thinner in all quadrants when compared to those of healthy control subjects and unaffected fellow eyes. The CMT of the eyes with crNAION was similar to that of the healthy control subjects. Conclusions: We demonstrated that mGCC and pRNFL thickness measurement by SD-OCT are capable of detecting axonal damage in eyes with crNAION. Furthermore, this study used SD-OCT and found that mGCC and pRNFL had the ability to detect GC loss in the eyes of the patients with crNAION.