Morphometric change analysis of the optic nerve head in unilateral disk hemorrhage cases

PURPOSE: To measure the changes in optic disk morphology after unilateral disk hemorrhage and to compare the changes between eyes. DESIGN: Observational case series. METHODS: Ten glaucoma patients who had a unilateral disk hemorrhage were enrolled. The baseline measurements obtained by Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT) were performed on both eyes when a disk hemorrhage was detected, and the second measurements were done after an average of 32 +/- 19 months. The amount of change and the percent change in the HRT parameters from the baseline measurements of the hemorrhagic eyes were compared with those of the contralateral nonhemorrhagic eyes. RESULTS: The reduction in the neuroretinal rim area and the decrease in volume were significantly greater in the octant with the disk hemorrhage than measured in the contralateral. eyes (P = .002, Wilcoxon signed rank test). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated quantitatively that the progression of optic disk damage in glaucoma is faster in eyes with disk hemorrhage than in eyes without disk hemorrhage.