The influence of age and intraocular pressure on the optic cup in a normal population

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the effects of age and intraocular pressure (IOP) on optic cup and neural rim size, and cup-disc ratio in a well defined population free from apparent glaucoma and other optic nerve disease.

Methods: Data were collected on 3654 people, 49 years or older, living in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. Examination included subjective refraction and Zeiss colour stereo (Carl Zeiss, Oberkochen, Germany) optic disc photographs. Magnification effects of the eye and camera were corrected. After excluding subjects with optic nerve diseases, data from 6579 normal phakic eyes of 3358 subject (91.9% of those examined) were used.

Results: Adjusted for optic disc size and IOP, cup diameter increased 0.01 mm, cup-disc ratio increased 0.01, and neural rim width decreased 0.01 mm for every decade of age increase. Adjusted for age and optic disc size, cup diameter increased 0.01 mm, cup-disc ratio increased 0.04, and neural rim width decreased 0.07 mm for every 10 mmHg increase in IOP. The IOP-related increase in cup-disc ratio amounted to 9.5% of the mean per 10 mmHg, while the age related increase was 1.9% of the mean.

Conclusions: These data support the hypothesis that there is an age-related loss of tissue from the neuroretinal rim. However the mean change between the ages of 50 and 90 years is very small. The association between increasing IOP and smaller neural rim width could suggest a causal relationship. However, it is also plausible that IOP and optic cup size are both determined by other unmeasured factors.