SD-OCT measurements of RNFL thickness may help predict likelihood of glaucoma diagnosis

La Jolla, CA-Researchers have developed a methodology for calculating likelihood ratios for glaucoma diagnosis using continuous retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness measurements taken with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), and found that average RNFL thickness values

For this observational cohort study, researchers from the Hamilton Glaucoma Center at the University of California, San Diego, recruited a total of 187 patients (262 eyes) with glaucoma and 100 controls (190 eyes) from the Diagnostic Innovations Glaucoma Study. In the glaucoma group, eyes with preperimetric and perimetric glaucomatous damage were included, while the control group was comprised of healthy eyes with normal visual fields in subjects recruited from the general population.

All eyes underwent RNFL imaging with SD-OCT. Using a methodology based on estimating the tangents to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, researchers estimated the likelihood ratios for a diagnosis of glaucoma for specific global RNFL thickness measurements.

Likelihood ratios were possible for continuous values of average RNFL thickness, and average RNFL thickness values

The abstract can be accessed: here.