ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The objective of this study is to compare optic nerve head (ONH) analysis parameters and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness parameters as measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT) among age-matched normal eyes, glaucoma-suspect eyes, and early glaucomatous eyes; and to determine the discriminating parameter best suited to distinguish early glaucoma in age-matched normal eyes and glaucoma- suspect eyes. METHODS: One hundred two normal eyes, 72 glaucoma-suspect eyes, and 85 eyes with early glaucoma that had been submitted to OCT and Humphrey field analysis were enrolled in this study. Optic nerve head analysis values and RNFL thickness values with OCT scans were compared among all groups. Sensitivity and specificity for the detection of early glaucoma were determined with a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS: The best-suited parameters were determined to be from 0.637 to 0.753 in optic nerve head parameters and from 0.506 to 0.759 in RNFL thickness parameters calculated with the area under the ROC curve (AUROC). The average thickness for early glaucomatous eye (0.818) had the widest AUROC among all parameters. The sensitivity and specificity of RNFL thickness parameter were determined to be 49.4% and 93.1%, respectively, at the cut-off value 92.17 micrometer. CONCLUSIONS: Optic nerve head and RNFL thickness parameters measured with OCT have relatively high sensitivity and specificity for detecting early glaucomatous eyes. Furthermore, they may provide clinically relevant information for the detection of early glaucomatous damage and for monitoring glaucomatous changes.
