Morphological assessment of lamina cribrosa in idiopathic intracranial hypertension

PURPOSE: Technological development of optic coherence tomography has enabled a detailed assessment of the optic nerve and deeper structures and in vivo measurements. The aim of this study was to compare the lamina cribrosa morphology of the optic nerve in idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) and healthy individuals. METHODS: The lamina cribrosa morphology of optic nerve in 15 eyes with IIH and 17 eyes of healthy individuals were compared. Four parameters such as Bruch membrane opening (BMO), lamina cribrosa thickness (LCT), prelaminar tissue thickness (PTT), and anterior lamina cribrosa surface depth (ALCSD) were retrospectively evaluated. RESULTS: By enhanced depth imaging-optic coherence tomography (EDI-OCT), PTT and BMO were found to be significantly greater (574,35 ± 169,20 μm and 1787,40 ± 140,87 μm, respectively) in IIH patients than healthy individuals (187,18 ± 132,15 μm and 1632,65 ± 162,58 μm, respectively), whereas ALSCD was found to be significantly less in IIH patients (234,49 ± 49,31 μm) than healthy individuals (425,65 ± 65,23 μm). There was not a statistically significant difference regarding LCT between the IIH patients (238,59 ± 17,31 μm) and healthy individuals (244,96 ± 15,32 μm). CONCLUSION: Increased intracranial pressure causes morphological changes in lamina cribrosa. Assessment of lamina cribrosa with EDI-OCT is important for diagnosis and follow-up of patients with IIH. EDI-OCT is objective, reproducible, and cost-effective assistive imaging tool in IIH patients.