Longitudinal changes in peripapillary atrophy in the ocular hypertension treatment study: a case-control assessment

Abstract

Purpose: To explore the association between peripapillary atrophy (PPA) area and conversion from ocular hypertension (OHT) to glaucoma.

Design: Prospective, longitudinal cohort study of cases and controls.

Participants: We included 279 age-matched and follow-up time-matched eyes with OHT that converted to glaucoma and 279 eyes with OHT that did not convert to glaucoma.

Methods: Initial and last acceptable optic disc photos were analyzed. Disc, α-zone, and β-zone PPA were traced independently by 2 trained readers and their areas were measured with Photoshop. The α-zone and β-zone areas were expressed as a percentage of optic disc area.

Main outcome measures: α-Zone and β-zone PPA size over time.

Results: Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) demonstrated that readers had good agreement on disc area (ICC = 0.97) and β-zone (ICC = 0.82), but not α-zone (ICC = 0.48). The ß-zone, as a percentage of disc area, increased in size (P < 0.001) in both eyes with incident primary open-angle glaucoma (mean, 10.6%; standard deviation, 22.6%) and matched controls (mean, 10.1%; standard deviation, 33.7) over follow-up (mean, 12.3 years). The increase in size did not differ between cases and controls (P = 0.82). Enlargement of the β-zone was not correlated with follow-up time (P = 0.39).

Conclusions: The results did not show a difference in size of the β-zone at baseline between eyes that proceed to develop glaucoma and those that do not. Moreover, the β-zone enlarges equally in case and control eyes during follow-up.