Decreased Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness In A Patient With Multiple Systemic Vascular Diseases

\n A decrease in retinal nerve fiber layer thickness can be secondary to glaucoma, several neurologic diseases, optic nerve diseases other than glaucoma, retinal diseases, toxic, nutritional or vascular causes such as shock optic neuropathy. Glaucoma, which is among the commonest causes of blindness worldwide, is a progressive optic neuropathy characterized by a decrease in retinal nerve fiber layer thickness secondary to retinal ganglion cell death, cupping of optic nerve head and visual field loss. Although the best known risk factor associated with glaucoma is high intraocular pressure, it is thought that systemic vascular disorders, which are among the risk factors of glaucoma, play role especially in the pathogenesis of normotensive glaucoma where intraocular pressure is low. In our study, we described a patient with decreased retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and thought normotensive glaucoma as the most probable diagnosis, who also had multiple systemic vascular diseases.