The Seoul National University Hospital said its researchers have found not only vision impairment but abnormalities in visual cells in glaucoma patients.

While the loss of retinal ganglion cells has been known to occur in patients with glaucoma, abnormality in visual cells that accept light stimuli has not been thought to occur.

The research paper by Professors Ha Ah-nul, Kim Young-kook, Jeong Jin-wook, and Park Ki-ho was published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

(From left) Professors Ha Ah-nul, Kim Young-kook, Jeong Jin-wook, and Park Ki-ho

The research team studied 150 patients from Seoul National University Hospital Glaucoma Clinic from 2015 to 2017 and performed an optical coherence tomography (OPT) or CT for the eyes.

Results showed that the relative ellipsoid zone (EZ) intensity in severe glaucoma eyes was 2.45 times lower than that of mild-to-moderate glaucoma eyes. The EZ intensity of the mid-stage patients was 3.15 times lower than that of the early-stage patients.

"Several neurons in the retina are structurally and functionally closely linked. Long-term progressive damage of retinal ganglion cells and reduction of neurotrophic factors seem to have affected visual cells," Professor Park said. "This study suggests a new paradigm in the onset and progression of glaucoma research."

Glaucoma is a disease in which the retinal ganglion cells bridging between the eyes and the brain are lost due to the elevation of the intraocular pressure or abnormalities of the optic nerve flow, leading to loss of vision.

The condition occurs in 3.5 percent of the population aged 40 years or older and accounts for about 11 percent of all blindness.

yjc@docdocdoc.co.kr

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