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Interocular differences in RNFL thickness may indicate early glaucoma damage
Am J Ophthalmol. 2011;151(3):514-521.
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Normal eyes with interocular differences in retinal nerve fiber layer thickness greater than 9 µm may have early glaucoma damage, according to a study.
Researchers measured both eyes of 284 normal subjects with the Cirrus HD-OCT (Carl Zeiss Meditec) in the observational, clinical study.
The average retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) was 0.52 µm thicker in the right eye than in the left eye, which was a marginally significant difference (P = .049), the study said.
In addition, statistically significant interocular differences in RNFL thickness were observed in all quadrants (P < .05). The right eye had thicker RNFL in the temporal, nasal and inferior quadrants, and the left eye had thicker RNFL in the superior quadrant.
Differences in axial length (P < .001) and disc area (P < .001) were found to be associated with an interocular difference of average RNFL thickness.
"Our finding signifies that interocular differences in axial length and disc area should be accounted for when considering interocular asymmetry in RNFL thickness for diagnosing early glaucoma," the study authors said.
Although RNFL thickness decreased with age, the interocular difference remained stable.