Optic disc area and correlation with central corneal thickness, corneal hysteresis and ocular pulse amplitude in glaucoma patients and controls

P>Background: To examine the relationships between optic disc area and parameters measured at the cornea; central corneal thickness (CCT), corneal hysteresis (CH) and ocular pulse amplitude (OPA) in glaucoma subjects and controls. Methods: In this prospective experimental study, patients underwent measurement of CCT, OPA, CH and optic disc imaging with the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph II (HRT-II). Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated to assess the associations between optic disc area and CCT, OPA and CH. Results: A total of 100 patients, 38 with glaucoma and 62 controls were examined. In a univariate analysis of this group, CCT and CH were significantly lower in glaucoma patients (P = 0.01). CCT was inversely correlated with optic disc surface area (Pearson's correlation coefficient r = -0.200; P = 0.05). This inverse correlation did not achieve statistical significance when glaucoma patients and controls were analysed separately. There was no statistically significant association between optic disc area and OPA or CH. Conclusions: There was an inverse relationship between CCT and optic disc area in this study group. No association was found between optic disc area and OPA or CH.