Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Correlation between nerve fibre layer thickness measured with spectral domain OCT and visual field in patients with different stages of glaucoma

  • Glaucoma
  • Published:
Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

To measure retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness with spectral-domain OCT (SD-OCT) in patients with glaucoma, and to evaluate the correlation between visual field parameters and RNFL thickness.

Methods

Two hundred twelve subjects—55 normal, 37 with preperimetric glaucoma (PPG) and 119 with different stages of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) were enrolled in this study. Standard automated perimetry was performed in all eyes. RNFL thickness was measured for 6 segments of the 3.4 mm diameter circle and for 8 areas corresponding to the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) grid, both centred on the optic disc. RNFL thickness values were calculated for the inner ring surrounding the optic disc border and the outer ring of the ETDRS grid. The association between visual field parameters and RNFL thickness was evaluated with regression analysis and Pearson correlation coefficients.

Results

In the normal group, mean RNFL thickness was 93 ± 9 μm for circle and 91 ± 14 μm for inner ring, for the POAG group the values were 58 ± 21 μm for circle and 40 ± 21 μm for inner ring, and for the PPG group the values were 77 ± 15 μm and 59 ± 15 μm, respectively. The differences in RNFL thickness between normal and glaucoma eyes were significant (p < 0.001) for all measurements. Mean RNFL thickness between normal and PPG eyes was significantly different for all regions except for the superior-temporal and temporal sector of the circle and for area 7 of the ETDRS grid. In POAG eyes only, RNFL thickness and both mean sensitivity (r = 0.558) and mean defect (r = −0.549) correlated significantly. The best parameters for differentiating normal from PPG eyes were inner ring surrounding the optic disc border (area under receiver operator characteristic curves (AUROC) = 0.940) and area 4 values (AUROC = 0.903) of the ETDRS grid.

Conclusions

SD-OCT showed significantly decreased mean RNFL thickness of the inner ring surrounding the optic disc border of the ETDRS grid by 35% in PPG eyes and by 46% in eyes with early glaucoma compared to the control group. These results support the usefulness of this technology.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Townsend KA, Wollstein G, Schuman JS (2009) Imaging of the retinal nerve fiber layer for glaucoma. Br J Ophthalmol 93:139–143

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Kiernan DF, Mieler WF, Hariprasad SM (2010) Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography: a comparison of modern high-resolution retinal imaging systems. Am J Ophthalmol 149:18–31

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Menke MN, Knecht P, Sturm V, Dabov S, Funk J (2008) Reproducibility of nerve fiber layer thickness measurements using 3D Fourier-domain OCT (Topcon 3d-OCT1000). Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 49:5386–5391

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Costa-Cunha LV, Cunha LP, Malta RF, Monteiro ML (2009) Comparison of Fourier-domain and time-domain optical coherence tomography in the detection of band atrophy of the optic nerve. Am J Ophthalmol 147(56–63):e2

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Leung CK, Cheung CY, Weinreb RN, Qiu Q, Liu S, Li H, Xu G, Fan N, Huang L, Pang CP, Lam DS (2009) Retinal nerve fiber layer imaging with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography: a variability and diagnostic performance study. Ophthalmology 116:1257–1263

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Vizzeri G, Weinreb RN, Gonzales-Garcia AO, Bowd C, Medeiros FA, Sample PA, Zangwill LM (2009) Agreement between spectral-domain and time-domain OCT for measuring RNFL thickness. Br J Ophthalmol 93:775–781

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Nouri-Mahdavi K, Nikkhou K, Hoffman DC, Law SK, Caprioli J (2008) Detection of early glaucoma with optical coherence tomography (StratusOCT). J Glaucoma 17:183–188

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Ajtony C, Balla Z, Somoskeoy S, Kovacs B (2007) Relationship between visual field sensitivity and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness as measured by optical coherence tomography. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 48:258–263

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Naithani P, Sihota R, Sony P, Dada T, Gupta V, Kondal D, Pandey RM (2007) Evaluation of optical coherence tomography and heidelberg retinal tomography parameters in detecting early and moderate glaucoma. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 48:3138–3145

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Kerrigan-Baumrind LA, Quigley HA, Pease ME, Kerrigan DF, Mitchell RS (2000) Number of ganglion cells in glaucoma eyes compared with threshold visual field tests in the same persons. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 41:741–748

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Gabriele ML, Ishikawa H, Wollstein G, Bilonick RA, Kagemann L, Wojtkowski M, Srinivasan VJ, Fujimoto JG, Duker JS, Schuman JS (2007) Peripapillary nerve fiber layer thickness profile determined with high speed, ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography high-density scanning. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 48:3154–3160

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Harwerth RS, Wheat JL (2008) Modeling the effects of aging on retinal ganglion cell density and nerve fiber layer thickness. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 246:305–314

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Schuman JS, Pedut-Kloizman T, Hertzmark E, Hee MR, Wilkins JR, Coker JG, Puliafito CJ, Fujimoto JG, Swanson EA (1996) Reproducibility of nerve fiber layer thickness measurements using optical coherence tomography. Ophthalmology 103:1889–1898

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Hood DC, Anderson SC, Wall M, Kardon RH (2007) Structure versus function in glaucoma: an application of a linear model. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 48:3662–3668

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Horn FK, Mardin CY, Laemmer R, Baleanu D, Juenemann AM, Kruse FE, Tornow RP (2009) Correlation between local glaucomatous visual field defects and loss of nerve fiber layer thickness measured with polarimetry and spectral domain OCT. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 50:1971–1977

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Miglior S, Riva I, Guareschi M, Di Matteo F, Romanazzi F, Buffagni L, Rulli E (2007) Retinal sensitivity and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness measured by optical coherence tomography in glaucoma. Am J Ophthalmol 144:733–740

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Grewal DS, Sehi M, Greenfield DS (2009) Diffuse glaucomatous structural and functional damage in the hemifield without significant pattern loss. Arch Ophthalmol 127:1442–1448

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Kanamori A, Nagai-Kusuhara A, Escano MFT, Maeda H, Nakamura M, Negi A (2006) Comparison of confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, scanning laser polarimetry and optical coherence tomography to discriminate ocular hypertension and glaucoma at an early stage. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 244:58–68

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Budenz DL, Michael A, Chang RT, McSoley J, Katz J (2005) Sensitivity and specificity of the StratusOCT for perimetric glaucoma. Ophthalmology 112:3–9

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Leung CK, Ye C, Weinreb RN, Cheung CY, Qiu Q, Liu S, Xu G, Lam DS (2010) Retinal nerve fiber layer imaging with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography a study on diagnostic agreement with Heidelberg retinal tomograph. Ophthalmology 117:267–274

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Chang RT, Knight OR, Feuer WJ, Budenz DL (2009) Sensitivity and specificity of time-domain versus spectral-domain optical coherence tomography in diagnosing early to moderate glaucoma. Ophthalmology 116:2294–2299

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Hougaard JL, Heijl A, Bengtsson B (2007) Glaucoma detection by Stratus OCT. J Glaucoma 16:302–306

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Budenz DL, Anderson DR, Varma R, Schuman J, Cantor L, Savell J, Greenfield DS, Patella VM, Quigley HA, Tielsch J (2007) Determinants of normal retinal nerve fiber layer thickness measured by StratusOCT. Ophthalmology 114:1046–1052

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Varma R, Skaf M, Barron E (1996) Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in normal human eyes. Ophthalmology 103:2114–2211

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Eye Hospital, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Grablovičeva 46, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Barbara Cvenkel & Alenka Šket Kontestabile

Authors
  1. Barbara Cvenkel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alenka Šket Kontestabile
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara Cvenkel.

Additional information

The authors have received no financial support for the presented study.

The authors have full control of the primary data, and allow Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology to review their data upon request.

This was a cross-sectional study, and was not registered as a clinical trial. It is a continuation of the correlation of morphological and functional changes in glaucoma, which was approved by the National Ethics Committee on 12 April 2005.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cvenkel, B., Šket Kontestabile, A. Correlation between nerve fibre layer thickness measured with spectral domain OCT and visual field in patients with different stages of glaucoma. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 249, 575–584 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-010-1538-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-010-1538-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation