Content area

Full Text

Maja Zivkovic [1; 2] and Volkan Dayanir [3] and Tolga Kocaturk [4] and Marko Zlatanovic [2] and Gordana Zlatanovic [1; 2] and Vesna Jaksic [5] and Marija Radenkovic [2] and Predrag Jovanovic [1; 2] and Sanja Sefic Kasumovic [6] and Mladjan Golubovic [7] and Svetlana Jovanovic [8]

Academic Editor: Mitsuru Nakazawa

1, Medical Faculty, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Nis, Nis, Serbia, ni.ac.rs

2, Ophthalmology Clinic, Clinical Center Nis, Nis, Serbia, kcnis.rs

3, BATIGOZ Health Group Eye Clinic, Izmir, Turkey, batigoz.com

4, Department of Ophthalmology, Adnan Menderes University Medical School, Aydin, Turkey, adu.edu.tr

5, Medical Faculty, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia, bg.ac.rs

6, Eye Clinic “Dr. Sefic”, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, sefic.ba

7, Center for Anesthesiology and Reanimatology, Clinical Center Nis, Nis, Serbia, kcnis.rs

8, Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia, kg.ac.rs

Received Sep 6, 2017; Revised Nov 22, 2017; Accepted Nov 27, 2017

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

1. Introduction

Normal tension glaucoma (NTG), also called low-tension glaucoma, is a chronic, progressive optic neuropathy with optic nerve deterioration and glaucomatous visual field defects [1]. Values of intraocular pressure (IOP) do not exceed the normal range of 21 mmHg [2]. Vascular dysfunction has been proposed as one of the most important factors in the development and progression of NTG3. This makes the study of blood flow in NTG extremely essential. The mechanisms underlying the abnormal ocular blood flow [3–5] in NTG are still not clear, but the risk factors for glaucomatous optic neuropathy likely include oxidative stress [6], vasospasm [7], and endothelial dysfunction [8].

According to the vascular theory, damage results from low or fluctuating ocular blood flow (OBF) causing ischemia and reperfusion injury in optic nerve head (ONH), respectively [9]. The role of vasospasm and ischemia as the primary cause of such a vascular failure in the systemic micro- and macrocirculation [10] in NTG leads to chronic oxidative stress affecting ONH and ganglion cells.

Several techniques (color Doppler imaging (CDI), scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA), and laser Doppler flowmetry) have been used to measure retrobulbar and intraocular hemodynamics in...
 

  


 
       
       
          
       

Show less