To compare the characteristics of the peripapillary choroid (PPC) between the two eyes of patients with unilateral treatment-naïve normal tension glaucoma (NTG).
Observational case series.
Sixty-nine patients (138 eyes) with treatment-naive unilateral NTG.
The characteristics of PPC vasculature were evaluated by measuring PPC thickness and assessing the presence of parapapillary deep-layer microvasculature dropout (MvD). PPC thickness was measured by enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (OCT). MvD was assessed using OCT angiography. The area and maximum radial width of β-zone parapapillary atrophy (PPA) were measured on infra-red images using the built-in caliper tool of the Spectralis OCT.
Between-eye differences in PPC thickness, MvD frequency, and the area and maximum width of β-zone PPA.
Eyes with NTG had higher intraocular pressure (IOP), longer axial length, thinner PPC, larger area and maximum radial width of the β-zone PPA, and more frequent MvD (P < 0.01 each) than contralateral healthy eyes. Multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis revealed that higher IOP, thinner PPC, larger maximum radial width of β-zone PPA, and the presence of MvD were independently associated with the risk of NTG (P < 0.03 each). MvD location and retinal nerve fiber layer defect were topographically correlated in eyes with NTG.
PPC vasculature characteristics are significantly more compromised in eyes with NTG than in contralateral healthy eyes of patients with unilateral NTG.

Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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