Abstract:AIM: To study the application of macular ganglion cell complex(mGCC)and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness(pRNFL)measured by optical coherence tomography(OCT)in the early diagnosis of glaucoma.
METHODS: Case-control study. Eighty-six subjects, including 30 eyes in normal subjects, 27 eyes in suspected primary open angle glaucoma, 29 eyes in primary open angle glaucoma were enrolled in this study. The thickness of mGCC and pRNFL were measured by OCT. The area under the receiver operating characteristic(AROC)curve at fixed specificities were calculated for each parameter.
RESULTS: There were significant differences in mean pRNFL thickness, superior pRNFL thickness and inferior pRNFL thickness between normal group, suspected glaucoma group and early glaucoma group(P=0.001, 0.004, 0.011). The mean mGCC thickness, the thickness of the top mGCC, the thickness of the lower mGCC were statistically significant(P=0.008, 0.002, 0.003); the difference of general loss of volume(GLV)and focal loss of volume(FLV)between the three groups was statistically significant(P=0.002). Compared with the normal group, all the pRNFL and the mGCC parameters were higher in the suspected glaucoma group, and the FLV had the highest AROC(0.801), all the remaining AROC was >0.700 except above Prnlf(0.688). Compared with the normal group and the early glaucoma group, all the pRNFL and the mGCC had higher AROC, average mGCC was hightest(0.804), all parameters AROC were >0.700 except mean pRNFL(0.683). In suspected glaucoma group, 58% patients had abnormal mGCC thickness and 23% had abnormal pRNFL thickness; in early glaucoma group, 98%patients had abnormal mGCC thickness and 90% had abnormal pRNFL thickness; in normal group, 93%patients had abnormal mGCC thickness and 93%had abnormal pRNFL thickness, the correlation between the three groups was statistically significant(χ2=12.11, P<0.05).
CONCLUSION: OCT measurement of mGCC thickness and pRNFL thickness in early glaucoma have good diagnostic ability; mGCC thickness measurement can be used as an effective method for early diagnosis of glaucoma.
