Relationship between intraocular pressure and anterior lamina cribrosa depth: a cross-sectional observational study in a healthy Portuguese population

To investigate the association between anterior lamina cribrosa depth (ALCD), determined with enhanced depth imaging spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT), and intraocular pressure (IOP) in a healthy Portuguese population.

In this cross-sectional observational study conducted between January and July 2015, 2 optic nerve head (ONH)–centered EDI-OCT cross-scans were performed and ALCD was defined as the perpendicular distance between the line connecting both edges of Bruch’s membrane opening and the anterior border of the lamina cribrosa at the maximum depth point. A multivariate regression model was performed to assess the association of IOP and ALCD.

The studied population included 59 subjects (35 women) with a mean age of 61.7 ± 15.1 years. Mean vertical and horizontal maximum ALCD was 444.5 ± 92.2 μm and 427.6 ± 82.7 μm, respectively. When controlling for age and spherical equivalent, maximum vertical and horizontal ALCD were positively correlated with intraocular pressure (R²>0.20) by 8.58 μm (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.80-14.36 μm; p<0.01) and 8.25 μm (95% CI 2.71-13.78 μm; p<0.01) per mm Hg of IOP, respectively.

Our sample of healthy subjects presented a statistically significant positive correlation between IOP and ALCD when controlling for possible confounding factors. These results may trigger further studies to better elucidate the role of IOP in the morphologic and functional dynamics of the ONH.