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Abstract #11711 Published in IGR 7-1
The optic nerve head as a biomechanical structure: a new paradigm for understanding the role of IOP-related stress and strain in the pathophysiology of glaucomatous optic nerve head damage
Burgoyne CF; Downs JC; Bellezza AJ; Suh JK; Hart RTProgress in Retinal and Eye Research 2005; 24: 39-73
We propose here a conceptual framework for understanding the optic nerve head (ONH) as a biomechanical structure. Basic principles of biomechanical engineering are used to propose a central role for intraocular pressure (IOP)-related stress and strain in the physiology of ONH aging and the pathophysiology of glaucomatous damage. Our paradigm suggests that IOP-related stress and strain (1) are substantial within the load-bearing connective tissues of the ONH even at low levels of IOP and (2) underlie both ONH aging and the two central pathophysiologies of glaucomatous damage--mechanical failure of the connective tissues of the lamina cribrosa, scleral canal wall, and peripapillary sclera, and axonal compromise within the lamina cribrosa by a variety of mechanisms. Modeling the ONH as a biomechanical structure generates a group of testable hypotheses regarding the central mechanisms of glaucomatous damage and provides a logic for classifying the principal components of the susceptibility of an individual ONH to a given level of IOP.
Dr. C.F. Burgoyne, LSU Eye Center, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, 2020 Gravier Street, Suite B, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA. cburgo@lsuhsc.edu
Classification:
2.14 Optic disc (Part of: 2 Anatomical structures in glaucoma)