Diagnostic capacity of SD-OCT segmented ganglion cell complex versus retinal nerve fiber layer analysis for congenital glaucoma.

PURPOSE: To compare the diagnostic performance of circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (cpRNFL) analysis versus segmented ganglion cell complex analysis both by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in children with primary congenital glaucoma (PCG).

METHODS

Participants were 40 children diagnosed with PCG and 60 healthy children. Ophthalmological data collected (for one eye per child) were cup-disc ratio (C/D) and axial length (AL). SD-OCT with automated segmentation was used to measure the thicknesses and volumes of the macular retinal nerve fiber layer (mRNFL), ganglion cell layer (GCL), and inner plexiform layer (IPL). For the cpRNFL measurements conventional S-D OCT software was used and the capacity of each method to discriminate between normal and glaucomatous eyes was compared.

RESULTS

Mean age was 11.20 ± 3.94 years for the glaucoma patients and 10.90 ± 2.46 years for controls (p = 0.64). All measurements were reduced (thinner) in the glaucoma group, significantly so for: cpRNFL, GCL, IPL and outer-superior and outer-inferior quadrant mRNFL. According to their areas under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC), temporal superior cpRNFL (0.869) and outer superior GCL (0.840), IPL (0.799), and mRNFL (0.767) showed the better diagnostic capacity. No differences were observed in AUCs for the most discriminatory cpRNFL and macular measurements.

CONCLUSION

Segmented macular layer analysis shows a good capacity to discriminate between normal and glaucomatous eyes; which is comparable to that of cpRNFL analysis in children with PCG.