Abstract

The attrition of nerve fibers in the peripapillary area and the optic nerve head (ONH) in glaucoma has been attributed to mechanical compression of, or aberrant blood flow to the ganglion cell axons comprising the optic nerve¹. Recently, greater attention has been focussed on the vascular factors in glaucoma². Much of the delay in understanding the pathophysiology of glaucoma has been the absence of clinically usable instruments for reliably quantifying subtle structural changes in the ONH, and blood flow in the optic nerve. Fortunately, Petrig and Riva recently demonstrated the applicability of laser doppler principles for measuring blood flow in the ONH in man³, and confocal imaging principles have been adapted for computer reconstruction of serial laser scanned planes of the ophthalmoscopically visible ONH to provide highly accurate and reliable three-dimensional images4 for fundamental/clinical research.

© 1995 Optical Society of America