Role of Central Corneal Thickness on Baseline Parameters and Progression of Visual Fields in Open Angle Glaucoma

Abstract

Patients with thinner corneas initially present with a greater visual field defect, indicating that thin corneas may contribute to advanced glaucomatous damage at the time of diagnosis. However, CCT does not seem to be a significant risk factor for progression of the disease.

Central corneal thickness, lamina cribrosa and peripapillary scleral histomorphometry in non-glaucomatous chinese eyes

“…After the landmark investigations by the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study Group, reporting that a thin cornea was a significant risk factor for the progression from ocular hypertension to primary open-angle glaucoma [1], it was logical to assume that such a finding may be due to an association between a thin cornea as "anterior roof" of the ocular globe and the lamina cribrosa as "posterior roof" of the globe. The observations made in the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study were supported by other hospital-based and population-based studies such as the European Glaucoma Prevention Study and the Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial, in which subjects with a thin cornea had a higher risk for development or progression of glaucoma, while some other studies did not agree with an association between a thin cornea and increased glaucoma susceptibility [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. To cite an example, in a follow-up study on patients with established glaucoma by Chauhan and colleagues, central corneal thickness was not a useful index in the risk assessment of visual field and optic disc progression [27].…”

Methodologic Quality of Studies on Prognostic Factors for Primary Open-angle Glaucoma Progression Measured by Visual Field Deterioration

“…The most important reason why studies did not meet the high quality criteria was their retrospective design (38.3% of studies reviewed). 10,[30][31][32]34,36,38,39,43,48,53,58,59,61,64,[66][67][68][69] In retrospective studies (historical cohorts), the information contained in the registries may be missing (incomplete) or of poor quality (information bias). 16 In contrast, in retrospective studies, progression and exposure to PFs occurs before the actual start of the research.…”

Risk factors for primary open angle glaucoma progression: what we know and what we need to know

“…Its role in disease progression is less well understood. Recent studies [29][30][31] have suggested that CCT may not be related to glaucoma progression. CCT may have a stronger significance in diagnosis than on progression after diagnosis [29,31].…”