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Lamina Cribrosa in Glaucoma: Diagnosis and Monitoring

  • Diagnosis and Monitoring of Glaucoma (R. Kuchtey, Section Editor)
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Abstract

The lamina cribrosa is the putative site of retinal ganglion cell axonal injury in glaucoma. Although histological studies have provided evidence of structural changes to the lamina cribrosa, even in early stages of glaucoma, until recently, the ability to evaluate the lamina cribrosa in vivo has been limited. Recent advances in optical coherence tomography, including enhanced depth and swept-source imaging, have changed this, providing a means to image the lamina cribrosa. Imaging has identified general and localized configurational changes in the lamina of glaucomatous eyes, including posterior laminar displacement, altered laminar thickness, and focal laminar defects with spatial association with conventional structural and functional losses. In addition, although the temporal relationship between changes to the lamina cribrosa and glaucomatous retinal ganglion cell loss is yet to be elucidated, quantitative measurements of laminar microarchitecture have good reproducibility and offer the potential to serve as biomarkers for glaucoma diagnosis and progression.

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Acknowledgments

This article was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health/National Eye Institute grants EY021818 (F.A.M.), core grant P30EY022589; an unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness (New York, NY); fellowships from Brazilian National Research Council-CAPES 12309-13-3 (C.P.B.G.).

Disclosure

Dr. Abe, Dr. Gracitelli, and Dr. Diniz-Filho declare they have no conflicts of interest to declare. Dr. Tatham declares they received research support from Heidelberg Engineering. Dr. Medeiros declares they received research support from Alcon Laboratories, Bausch & Lomb, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Heidelberg Engineering, Merck, Allergan, Sensimed, Topcon, Reichert, National Eye Institute; Consultant for Allergan, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Novartis.

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This article contains no studies with human or animal subjects performed by the author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Hamilton Glaucoma Center, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, USA

    Ricardo Y. Abe, Carolina P. B. Gracitelli, Alberto Diniz-Filho, Andrew J. Tatham & Felipe A. Medeiros

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil

    Ricardo Y. Abe

  3. Department of Ophthalmology, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Carolina P. B. Gracitelli

  4. Department of Ophthalmology and Otorhinolaryngology, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

    Alberto Diniz-Filho

  5. Department of Ophthalmology, Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland

    Andrew J. Tatham

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  1. Ricardo Y. Abe
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  2. Carolina P. B. Gracitelli
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  3. Alberto Diniz-Filho
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  5. Felipe A. Medeiros
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Correspondence to Felipe A. Medeiros.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Diagnosis and Monitoring of Glaucoma.

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Abe, R.Y., Gracitelli, C.P.B., Diniz-Filho, A. et al. Lamina Cribrosa in Glaucoma: Diagnosis and Monitoring. Curr Ophthalmol Rep 3, 74–84 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40135-015-0067-7

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