Prospective Pilot Clinical Study of Noninvasive Cerebrovascular Autoregulation Monitoring in Open-Angle Glaucoma Patients and Healthy Subjects

Abstract

Purpose: To analyze the cerebrovascular autoregulation (CA) dynamics in patients with normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) and high-tension glaucoma (HTG) as well as healthy subjects using noninvasive ultrasound technologies for the first time. Methods: The CA status of 10 patients with NTG, 8 patients with HTG, and 10 healthy subjects was assessed, using an innovative noninvasive ultrasonic technique, based on intracranial blood volume slow-wave measurements. Identified in each participant were intraocular pressure, ocular perfusion pressure, and CA-related parameter volumetric reactivity index (VRx), as well as the duration and doses of the longest cerebral autoregu-lation impairment (LCAI). In addition, we calculated the associations of these parameters with patients’ diagnoses. Results: The VRx value, the LCAI dose, and duration in healthy subjects were significantly lower than in patients with NTG (P < 0.05). However, no significant differences were noted in these parameters between healthy subjects and HTG and between NTG and HTG groups. Conclusions: NTG is associated with the disturbed cerebral blood flow and could be diagnosed by performing noninvasive CA assessments. Translational Relevance: The VRx monitoring method can be applied to a wider range of patient groups, especially patients with normal-tension glaucoma.