Glaucoma - Neuro-retinal rim assessment

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The optic nerve contains over one million axons of the retinal ganglion cells. At the optic nerve head, the axons are predominantly located at the margins, known as the neuro-retinal rim (NRR).

Retinal axons tend to be grouped into superior and inferior nerve fibre bundles, causing a thicker NRR superiorly and inferiorly at the optic nerve head and giving the appearance of a horizontally oval cup in the younger healthy eye. Changes in the NRR width and regularity, signifying a loss of the retinal ganglion cell axons, are among the most characteristic changes in glaucoma.