Deformation of the Lamina Cribrosa and Optic Nerve Due to Changes in Cerebrospinal Fluid Pressure

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Andrew J Feola, Emory University; Baptiste Coudrillier, Emory University; John Mulvihill, Emory University; Diogo M Geraldes, Imperial College London; Nghia T Vo, Diamond Light Source; Julie Albon, Cardiff University; Richard L Abel, Imperial College London; Brian C Samuels, University of Alabama Birmingham; Christopher Ethier, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2017-04-01
• Publisher: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Inc.
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2017 The Authors.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1167/iovs.16-21393
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science
• Volume: 58
• Issue: 4
• Start Page: 2070
• End Page: 2078
• Grant/Funding Information: Supported by Science and Technology Facilities Council Grants EE8491, EE9825, and EE11407; the Georgia Research Alliance; and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NNX13AP91G.
• Keywords: ocular biomechanics; INTRAOCULAR-PRESSURE; SPACE; cerebrospinal fluid pressure; ENVIRONMENT; BIOMECHANICS; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; PAPILLEDEMA; ACUTE IOP ELEVATION; phase-contrast micro-computed tomography; Science & Technology; HEAD CONNECTIVE-TISSUE; MICROGRAVITY; Ophthalmology; intracranial pressure; digital volume correlation; DISC EDEMA; GLAUCOMA
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Opthamology; Engineering, Biomedical

Abstract

PURPOSE. Cerebrospinal fluid pressure (CSFp) changes are involved or implicated in various ocular conditions including glaucoma, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, and visual impairment and intracranial pressure syndrome. However, little is known about the effects of CSFp on lamina cribrosa and retrolaminar neural tissue (RLNT) biomechanics, potentially important in these conditions. Our goal was to use an experimental approach to visualize and quantify the deformation of these tissues as CSFp increased. METHODS. The posterior eye and RLNT of porcine eyes (n = 3) were imaged using synchrotron radiation phase-contrast micro-computed tomography (PC μCT) at an intraocular pressure of 15 mm Hg and CSFps of 4, 10, 20, and 30 mm Hg. Scans of each tissue region were acquired at each CSFp step and analyzed using digital volume correlation to determine 3-dimensional tissue deformations. RESULTS. Elevating CSFp increased the strain in the lamina cribrosa and RLNT of all three specimens, with the largest strains occurring in the RLNT. Relative to the baseline CSFp of 4 mm Hg, at 30 mm Hg, the lamina cribrosa experienced a mean first and third principal strain of 4.4% and 3.5%, respectively. The corresponding values for the RLNT were 9.5% and 9.1%. CONCLUSIONS. CSFp has a significant impact on the strain distributions within the lamina cribrosa and, more prominently, within the RLNT. Elevations in CSFp were positively correlated with increasing deformations in each region and may play a role in ocular pathologies linked to changes in CSFp.