AIM: To evaluate the diagnostic capability of Heidelberg retinal tomography-Ⅲ(HRT-Ⅲ)for primary openangle glaucoma(POAG)at different stages.

METHODS: Sixty-five patients(116 eyes)with POAG and 60 normal persons(114 eyes)were tested by HRT-Ⅲ with optic disk tomography to observe their optic disk structure parameters. The optic disk parameters of normal persons, patients with POAG, and patients of POAG at different stages were compared and analyzed. The correlation between optic disk parameters and mean defect of the visual field of patients were analyzed.

RESULTS: There were statistical differences in cup area, rim area, cup volume, rim volume, cup/disk area ratio, rim/disk area ratio, linear cup/disk ratio, mean cup depth, maximun cup depth, mean retinal nerve fiber layer(RNFL)thickness between normal persons and patients and among patients of the three stages(early, developing and late). A positive correlation was found between cup area, cup volume, cup/disk area ratio, linear cup/disk ratio, mean cup depth and mean defect of the visual field in POAG patients, while, a negative correlation was found between rim area, rim volume, rim/disk area ratio, mean RNFL thickness and mean deviation in POAG patients.

CONCLUSION: HRT-Ⅲ can effectively reflect changes of optic disc in each stage of POAG. It shows a good correlation with visual field and provides basis for the diagnosis of POAG.