Background: It is well-established that eyes with pseudoexfoliation
syndrome (PXS) have higher intraocular pressure (IOP). Early diagnosis
of preperimetric glaucoma will assist with better management of these
patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the optic nerve head
(ONH) parameters and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in
subjects with bilateral PXS, bilateral pseudoexfoliative glaucoma (PXG)
and normal, correlating these results with central corneal thickness
(CCT). Design: This is a cross-sectional, case control study. All
participants were from the Department of Ophthalmology, Athens
University Medical School. Participants: A total of 55 eyes from 55
patients with PXS (27 eyes from 27 patients with PXG and 28 eyes from 28
normal subjects) were studied. Methods: Topographic measurements of the
ONH and peripapillary RNFL thickness were performed using a confocal
scanning laser ophthalmoscope (the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph-III). The
outcomes were correlated with the CCT of the subjects. Main Outcome
Measures: PXS subjects and age-matched normal subjects did not differ
significantly in ONH parameters. RNFL thickness was significantly lower
in the PXS group compared with the normal group, but there was not a
statistically significant difference with the PXG patients. Regarding
the correlation with CCT, the PXG group showed negative correlation with
mean (p = 0.027) and max cup depth (p = 0.031), while PXS subjects
revealed a positive correlation with RNFL thickness (p = 0.032).
Conclusions: Our study showed that PXS subjects may be at greater risk
of RNFL thinning, presenting a statistically significant positive
association of the latter parameter with the CCT