Increased Microcirculation on Optic Nerve Head by Laser Speckle Flowgraphy at Early Stage of Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy

ABSTRACT

Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is a mitochondrial disorder predominantly affecting young men. Characteristic features of an early stage of LHON are peripapillary telangiectatic microangiopathy with optic disc hyperaemia and swelling of the retinal nerve fibre layers. We evaluated the microcirculation of the optic nerve head (ONH) by laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG) in a 79-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman with LHON. The ONH microcirculation of the tissue area was markedly increased in the early stage in both patients. LSFG may be a useful noninvasive method to suspect individuals to have an early stage of LHON.

KEYWORDS:

• Leber hereditary optic neuropathy
• laser speckle flowgraphy
• optic nerve head microcirculation
• microangiopathy
• optical coherence tomography

Acknowledgements

Medical writing assistance for this manuscript was provided by Dr. Duco Hamasaki.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.