Correlation of intra- and para-papillary glaucomatous changes--a planimetric study of 200 normal and 450 glaucoma eyes

The zone "alpha" (irregular hypo- und hyperpigmentation) and "beta" (visible large choroidal vessels and visible sclera) of parapapillary chorioretinal atrophy had been measured in 450 eyes of 330 patients suffering from chronic primary open-angle glaucoma and in 200 normal eyes of 161 subjects. In the present study, the results were correlated with intrapapillary and other parapapillary parameters. Significant correlations (p less than 0.001) were found with: (1) the neuroretinal rim size; (2) the horizontal and vertical cup/disc ratios and the quotient; (3) the frequency of bared circumlinear and cilioretinal vessels and of optic disc hemorrhages, respectively; (4) the retinal vessel diameter; (5) the visibility of the retinal nerve fiber bundles; (6) the glaucoma stage. The parapapillary changes were most marked in the sector in which the neuroretinal rim notch was the largest and the narrowness of the retinal vessel caliber the most pronounced. The parapapillary glaucomatous changes in time and location correlated with the intrapapillary and other parapapillary alterations. They deserve special attention in the diagnosis of glaucoma.