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Review
. 2020 Aug 10:14:2255-2264.
doi: 10.2147/OPTH.S236114. eCollection 2020.

Corneal Hysteresis as a Biomarker of Glaucoma: Current Insights

Affiliations
Review

Corneal Hysteresis as a Biomarker of Glaucoma: Current Insights

Larae Zimprich et al. Clin Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

The diagnosis and management of glaucoma has long been dependent on making decisions based on family history, optic nerve head evaluation, intraocular pressure, visual field testing, and optical coherence testing. Other pieces to aid in understanding glaucoma have presented throughout the years, including the role of corneal thickness. The discussion and debate on the mechanism of glaucoma have been attributed to resistance at the level of the conventional outflow pathway, perfusion pressure to the optic nerve head, cerebral spinal fluid pressure, and many more. Another piece that has emerged is corneal hysteresis, an assessment of the cornea's ability to absorb and dissipate energy. There is abundant published literature supporting corneal hysteresis being associated with the presence and severity of glaucoma, the structural and functional progression of glaucoma, and the conversion to glaucoma. The supported data in these studies add another piece, corneal hysteresis, to consider in the diagnosis and management of glaucoma.

Keywords: corneal biomechanics; corneal hysteresis; glaucoma.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr Justin A Schweitzer reports personal fees from fReichertoutside the submitted work. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Ocular response analyzer (ORA) reading. P1 indicates the air-jet pressure when the cornea undergoes an inward applanation and P2 is the pressure at which the cornea bends back to normal configuration. Corneal hysteresis is defined by P1-P2. Figure courtesy of Reichart Inc., Depew, NY, USA.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Relationship between predictive rates of VFI change, IOP, and CH, 2013. Notes: Reprinted from Ophthalmology: Journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Vol 120(8), Medeiros FA, Meira-Freitas D, Lisboa R, Kuang TM, Zangwill LM, Weinreb RN, Corneal hysteresis as a risk factor for glaucoma progression: a prospective longitudinal study, Pages No.1533–1540, Copyright 2013, with permission from Elsevier.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cumulative probability of glaucoma development in glaucoma suspect eyes with CH equal or greater than 10.2, and in those with CH lesser than 10.2 mmHg. Notes: Reprinted from American Journal of Ophthalmology, Vol 187, Susanna CN, Diniz-Filho A, Daga FB, et al, A prospective longitudinal study to investigate corneal hysteresis as a risk factor for predicting development of glaucoma, Pages No.148–152, Copyright 2018, with permission from Elsevier.

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