Diagnostic Ability of Optical Coherence Tomography to Detect Retinal Nerve Fiver Layer Defects in Patients With Suspected Glaucoma

Purpose:To assess the diagnostic ability of optical coherence tomography (OCT) to detect retinal nerve fiber layer defects is suspected glaucoma subjects (SGs). Methods:65 normal eyes and 42 SGs were included in the study. Only one eye per subject was randomly chosen. SGs had to have normal standard automated perimetry and outside normal limits Moorfields regression analysis (overall classification), evaluated with the Heidelberg retina tomograph 3. All of them underwent imaging with the Stratus OCT 3000 (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, Ca). Sensitivity-specificity pairs and the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) were calculated and compared between healthy and SG groups. Results:Age and central corneal thickness did not differ significantly (p>0.05) between the groups. Average thickness (0.830), 7 o’clock segment thickness (0.797), 1 o’clock segment thickness (0.795), and superior quadrant thickness (0.795) had the greatest AUCs. At a fixed specificity of 90%, sensitivities were 54.7% (cut-off point [COP]: 85.2 µ), 57.1% (COP: 107 µ), 45.2% (COP: 79 µ), and 42.8% (COP: 92 µ), respectively. There was no significant difference between the AUCs of these parameters. Conclusions:Average thickness and 7 o’clock segment thickness had the best ability to differentiate between healthy and SGs. There are early structural changes that can be quantified by means of OCT. The superior and inferior poles of the optic nerve head are the sectors more commonly affected at early stages of glaucoma disease.