A COMPARISION OF NORMAL, GLAUCOMA SUSPECT, AND GLAUCOMA PATIENTS USING SELECTED HEIDELBERG RETINA TOMOGRAPH (HRT) PARAMETERS

K.S Kooner, M. Awan and J. Vargas

Department of Ophthalmolgy, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Texas, USA

PURPOSE: To compare mean retinal nerve fiber layer thickness(RNFL), cup volume, cup to disc area ratio, and rim area in normal, glaucoma suspect, and glaucoma patients using HRT. DESIGN: Nonrandomized retrospective comparitive study. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-eight eyes of forty-nine patients from a private urban hospital setting. METHODS: Participants were selected from a database of patients who had undergone HRT within the past three years. Patients who had undergone Humphrey visual field analysis during this period were then selected from this group. These patients were then classified as having either normal, glaucome suspect or glaucomatous eyes. The three groups were age, sex, and race matched. Selected HRT parameters were then compared between the three groups. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference (p<.05) was found for all four parameters between glaucoma eyes and glaucoma suspect eyes and between glaucoma eyes and normal eyes. No statistically significant difference was found with any of the four parameters between normal eyes and glaucoma suspect eyes. CONCLUSION: Mean RNFL thickness, cup volume, cup to disc area ratio, and rim area as measured by the HRT can differentiate nonglaucomatous from glaucomatous eyes.  Authors have no financial interest in HRT.