Optic Nerve Image Analysis

Derangement of vascular perfusion in the preliminary portion of the anterior optic nerve is thought play a common role in the pathogeneses of multiple disorders. These include various clinical examples of the chronic glaucomas as well as the more acute entities of arteritic and non-arteritic ischemic neuropathies and acute ischemic papilledema. There may also be a microvascular role in the pathogenesis of central retinal vascular occlusions. Hayreh1 has stressed the tremendous inter-individual variation in the anatomy and physiology of choroidal and optic nerve perfusion that complicate (confuse) our understanding of these diseases. Of the several factors determining perfusion of these tissues (lOP, mean arterial pressure, peripheral vascular resistance and autoregulation), only the intraocular pressure can be conveniently estimated.