Purpose

To assess the clinical utility of swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) in detecting optic disc microvasculature dropout (MvD-D) in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) eyes.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Methods

The study enrolled 197 eyes of 197 patients with POAG with acceptable-quality SS-OCTA (PLEX Elite 9000; Carl Zeiss Meditec) images. A whole-signal-mode 6.0- × 6.0-mm optic disc cube was obtained with projection artifact removal. Three groups were categorized: no MvD-D (group 1), MvD-D (group 2, complete loss of microvasculature within the optic disc), and indiscernible MvD-D (group 3, poor visualization of the anterior lamina cribrosa [LC]).

Results

There were 82 (42.1%) and 81 (41.5%) eyes categorized as no MvD-D (group 1) and MvD-D (group 2), respectively. The remaining 32 eyes (16.4%), categorized as indiscernible MvD-D (group 3), had a significantly smaller anterior scleral canal opening (ASCO) area (P < .05). Group 2 had significantly worse visual field (VF) mean deviation (MD), thinner average retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), higher prevalence of focal LC defect, and parapapillary deep-layer microvasculature dropout (MvD-P) than the other 2 groups (P < .05). In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, higher prevalence of focal LC defect (odds ratio, 46.91; P < .001) and MvD-P (odds ratio, 48.94; P < .001) remained as factors associated with MvD-D.

Conclusions

The presence of MvD-D could be well determined by SS-OCTA in eyes with POAG. MvD-P and focal LC defects were strongly associated with MvD-D. This suggests that SS-OCTA can serve as a useful tool in detecting optic disc microvasculature damage.