Glaucoma and Alzheimer's disease: search of morphologic evidence of identity

Apoptosis is considered to be the main mechanism of neuronal death in neurodegenerative diseases. According to numerous studies, the death of retina ganglion cells (RGC) in glaucoma is also caused by this mechanism. About 70 per cent of optic tract fibre that form retinogeniculate connections terminate in the lateral geniculate body (LGB). The common process in neurodegenerative diseases is the process of transsynaptic degeneration during which the disease propagates from an affected neuron to a healthy one by means of synaptic contact. The same process is typical for progression of glaucoma optic neuropathy.