The advent of OCT angiography is making it easier for researchers and clinicians to better understand blood flow dynamics in many ocular diseases, glaucoma included. New research finds a reduction in the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) and enhanced perifoveal microcirculation after IOP-lowering surgery. The study, published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, noted that these changes didn’t occur in the non-surgical fellow eye during the follow-up period, which argues in favor of FAZ growth in open-angle glaucoma patients and the mediating influence of surgery.

The investigation included 54 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma who underwent unilateral glaucoma surgery to reduce IOP. Post-surgery, IOP of the study eye significantly decreased from 22.1mm Hg to 10.3mm Hg. The FAZ also faced a significant reduction from 0.485mm² to 0.446mm².

However, in the non-surgical fellow eyes, the preoperative and postoperative mean FAZ areas (0.398mm² and 0.396mm², respectively) did not significantly differ. The change in the FAZ area significantly correlated with the pre-op area and foveal sensitivity and the change in IOP.