Baseline OCT measurements may predict glaucoma development

Baseline ocular coherence tomography measurements may help predict which glaucoma-suspect patients are at risk for glaucomatous changes, according to a study.

Maziar Lalezary, MD, and colleagues at the Hamilton Glaucoma Center of the University of California, San Diego, measured the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) in 114 eyes of 114 patients with suspected glaucoma. All measurements were done using the OCT2 (Carl Zeiss Meditec).

At a mean 4.2 years' follow-up, 23 eyes (20%) developed glaucomatous changes, defined as visual field damage in three or more consecutive tests or progressive glaucomatous optic neuropathy on stereophotograph assessment, according to the study.

The researchers found that a 10 µm thinner average RNFL was associated with a 1.5-fold increase in the probability of developing glaucomatous changes, according to the study. This association was only observed in the superior and inferior retinal quadrants and not for the nasal and temporal quadrants, the authors noted.

OCT-measured RNFL thickness remained independently predictive of glaucomatous changes after adjusting for clinical and demographic factors associated with glaucoma development, including baseline stereophotograph assessments, age and IOP, they added.

The study is published in the October issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.