Retinal Vascular Changes with Non-Arteritis Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Assessed with IVAN Analysis

Abstract Background To assess the vascular changes associated with non-arteritis anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) by using integrative vessel analysis (IVAN) and risk factors associated with NAION. Methods We performed a case-control study of 120 patients, including 40 NAION patients during July 2015 to July 2019. Patients were divided into Normal, hypertension and NAION groups. IVAN was conducted to evaluate the caliber of retinal vessels. In addition, we also analyzed risk factors (age, gender and BMI) to identify their association with NAION. Results 84 women and 36 men were involved in our study, the average age was 58 ± 9.98 years. CRAE, CRVE and AVR in the whole patients were 154.54 ± 21.53 µm, 252.22 ± 15.88 µm and 0.64, respectively. ANOVA analysis showed significant difference of CRAE [F (2,116) = 4.203, p = 0.017], CRVE [F (2,116) = 49.91, p < 0.001] and AVR [F (2,116) = 13.81, p < 0.0001] between each group, NAION group had wider CRAE and CRVE, while smaller AVR. BMI value showed negative correlation with CRAE in NAION group, while positively with CRVE. Conclusion Retinal vascular caliber can be used as an indicator to evaluate the NAION. Our study suggested that an assessment of retinal vascular caliber may offer insights into the development of NAION.