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Macular scan OCT may play role in diagnosis, management of glaucoma
Macular scan optical coherence tomography should be considered in the diagnosis and management of glaucoma because of the significant and predictable relationship between macular thickness and visual field defects, a study suggested.
The retrospective study of 127 glaucoma patients analyzed macular scans taken with the Stratus OCT (Carl Zeiss Meditec) and automated visual fields taken with the Humphrey Visual Field Analyzer (Carl Zeiss Meditec).
Regression analysis found a statistically significant positive correlation between several macular thickness parameters and anatomically related visual field defects.
The superior outer visual field line average and the inferior outer macula thickness demonstrated a significant structural relationship (P ≤ .0001), as did the superior inner visual field line and the inferior inner macula (P ≤ .0001).
The superior inner macula also correlated with the inferior inner visual field line (P ≤ .0001), while the superior outer macula had correlated strongly with the inferior outer visual field line (P ≤ .0001).
The results support the understanding of the relationship between macular functional and structural abnormalities and glaucoma, the study authors said.
“Improved macular [visual field] testing and macular OCT reproducibility will likely provide more parameters of predictive ability to aid the clinician in safeguarding the glaucomatous eye,” they said.