Sylwester Matwiejczuk, Anna Niedziałek, Katarzyna Toborek, Mateusz Midura, Dominika Wróbel-Dudzińska, Tomasz Żarnowski, Radosław Pietura, Ewa Kosior-Jarecka
Abstract
Glaucoma is an optic neuropathy characterized by progressive retinal ganglion cells degeneration and associated visual field defects. Although elevated intraocular pressure is a major risk factor, glaucoma can also develop in individuals with statistically normal intraocular pressure.
Introduction
Glaucoma refers to a group of optic neuropathies characterized by the progressive degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). This degeneration leads to optic disc cupping, a distinct structural change and visual loss, which manifests as scotomas in visual field (VF) examinations [1].
Materials and methods
The study was conducted at the Department of Diagnosis and Microsurgery of Glaucoma and the Department of Radiography at the Medical University of Lublin, Poland, with approval from the Local Ethics Committee (approval number KE 0254/201/2021).
Results
Participant age did not differ significantly between groups, as assessed by one-way ANOVA (p = 0.293). The NTG group was the youngest (M = 64.8 years, SD = 7.8), while the HTG group was the oldest (M = 69.0 years, SD = 6.80).
Discussion
This study assessed the volumes of the LGN and selected brain regions in patients with early bilateral GON due to primary open-angle glaucoma classified into HTG and NTG based on maximal IOP. To ensure result consistency, only patients with the same glaucoma stage in both eyes were included.
Conclusions
Although the present study revealed reduced volumes of the LGN in both NTG and HTG, these correlations did not reach statistical significance between two groups. The observed tendencies may reflect early central involvement in glaucoma, however, the results should be interpreted cautiously.
Citation: Matwiejczuk S, Niedziałek A, Toborek K, Midura M, Wróbel-Dudzińska D, Żarnowski T, et al. (2026) Comparison of volumes of brain areas in patients with bilateral early high-tension and normal-tension glaucoma in 7 Tesla MRI. PLoS One 21(1): e0341306. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0341306
Editor: Ryo Asaoka, Seirei Hamamatsu General Hospital, JAPAN
Received: June 30, 2025; Accepted: January 6, 2026; Published: January 23, 2026
Copyright: © 2026 Matwiejczuk et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: All relevant data are available within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files. The minimal dataset underlying the results of this study, including LGN volumetric measurements, RNFL parameters, and analysis scripts, has been deposited in the Zenodo public repository and can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17280764.
Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
