Correlation Between Contrast Sensitivity and Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in Patients with Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma

Purpose: The current study aimed to assess contrast sensitivity and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and to evaluate their correlations.Patients and Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational analytical study conducted on a total of 195 eyes included 95 eyes of 55 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and 100 healthy control eyes of 50 subjects. The glaucomatous eyes were divided into 3 groups (mild, moderate and sever). Most of studied cases were mild (41.1%), while moderate and sever degrees were recorded in (26.3%) and (32.6%) of cases respectively. Contrast Sensitivity Assessment was done by The Pelli Robson Test and Oculus Mesotest II. P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The mean age of patients with POAG was (57.89±8.49) years, while in the control group it was (55.59±10.37) years. There were statistically significant differences between the two groups as regards BCVA and IOP. POAG group were associated with highly significant increase in Cup/disc ratio and highly significant decrease in the mean deviation compared to control group. There was statistically significant decrease in contrast sensitivity and highly statistically significant decrease in retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in patients' group in comparison with control group. There were highly statistically significant positive correlations between contrast sensitivity assessment and all RNFL parameters.Conclusion: Contrast sensitivity has been correlated with RNFL thickness in POAG patients. Contrast sensitivity and RNFL thickness play important role in detection of POAG.