Oral cOrticOsterOids fOr asthma exacerbatiOns might be assOciated with adrenal suppressiOn: are physicians aware Of that? rev assoC med bras 2017; 63(10):899-903 899

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Notwithstanding the significant advances in automated imaging techniques in the past 2 decades, subjective evaluation of the optic disc still remains an important part of glaucoma propaedeutic. In places with limited resources and a high demand for ophthalmic care, anatomical evaluation of glaucoma cases often relies solely on slit-lamp-based fundus biomicroscopic examination, which is frequently performed without mydriasis. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> The aim of this study was to compare metrics related to fundus biomicroscopy examination of the optic nerve head and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) with and without mydriasis. <b><i>Material and Methods:</i></b> Healthy individuals, patients with early glaucoma, and glaucoma suspects were prospectively enrolled. Patients were examined before and after mydriasis by three glaucoma specialists, who estimated patients’ vertical cup-to-disc ratio (CDR) and evaluated the presence of glaucomatous signs: laminar dot sign, disc hemorrhage, disc saucering, disc notching, peripapillary atrophy, localized pRNFL defect, and loss of the ISNT pattern. Main outcome measures were the intra-observer comparison, the inter-observer agreement, and the abilities to identify glaucomatous signs before and after mydriasis. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Thirty patients (60 eyes) were enrolled (mean age, 62.3 ± 11.6 years). Considering the evaluation of the three examiners, the mean vertical CDR increased from 0.41 to 0.44 (<i>p</i> = 0.02), and the median of the coefficient of variation of the measures was reduced from 0.24 to 0.11 (<i>p</i> = 0.01) after mydriasis. Regarding the inter-observer agreement evaluation, the kappa coefficient values ranged from 0.64 to 0.72 before mydriasis and from 0.71 to 0.77 after mydriasis. Dot sign and disc notching were better identified through fundoscopic examination with mydriasis compared to the nonmydriatic examination (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.01). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Our results suggest that fundus biomicroscopy should be performed with mydriasis whenever possible, as it yells a better intra- and inter-observer agreement and improves the detection of glaucomatous signs. Moreover, examiners seem to underestimate CDR values without mydriasis. Further investigation is warranted to validate these findings by general ophthalmologists and in different populations.

Purpose. To investigate structural and functional correlations in glaucoma patients using optic nerve head hemoglobin (ONH Hb) measurements as determined by automated colorimetric analysis of conventional retinography. Methods. We prospectively enrolled healthy participants and glaucomatous patients with a wide range of disease stages. All participants underwent visual field (VF) testing (standard automated perimetry, SAP), color fundus imaging (mydriatic retinography), and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) assessment through spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Software Laguna ONhE was used to estimate the amount of ONH Hb and to determine the glaucoma discriminant function (GDF) index. Scatter plots were constructed, and regression analysis was used to investigate the correlations between GDF, average pRNFL thickness, and VF mean deviation (VFMD) index values. A secondary analysis was performed to compare each parameter between three different glaucoma groups divided according to VFMD values (mild, >−6 dB; moderate, −6 to −12 dB; and advanced, <−12 dB). Results. One hundred ninety-six eyes from 123 participants (69 with glaucoma and 54 controls) were enrolled. Overall, all parameters evaluated differed significantly between glaucomatous and control eyes ( p ≤ 0.001 ). The comparison of each parameter according to groups of disease stages revealed significant differences between controls and each of the glaucomatous groups ( p < 0.001 ). More pronounced changes in GDF values were observed in early disease stages. We found significant nonlinear correlations between GDF and VFMD values (R2 = 0.295, p < 0.001 ) and between pRNFL thickness and VFMD (R2 = 0.598, p < 0.001 ). A linear correlation was found between GDF and pRNFL thickness values (R2 = 0.195, p < 0.001 ). Conclusion. Our results showed significant associations between ONH Hb values and both structural and functional damage in glaucoma obtained by SD-OCT and SAP, respectively. The nonlinear correlation we found and the GDF behavior along different disease stages suggest that ONH Hb levels’ reduction may precede visual function changes in early glaucoma stages.