title: Retinal nerve fibre layer photography in glaucomatous and normal eyes.
abstract: The technique of retinal nerve fibre photography has been developed and tested in specialized centres and glaucoma clinics. The usefulness of a modified technique in clinical practice is the subject of this prospective study. Retinal nerve fibre photos from 41 patients with open-angle glaucoma and 40 normal patients were examined in a blind study, a total of 161 eyes. Photos from 5 eyes were of insufficient quality to allow evaluation. Nerve fibre loss was found in 36% of the normal eyes, 42% of glaucomatous eyes without visual field defects, and 87% of eyes with glaucomatous visual field defects. Sensitivity was 86% and specificity was 62% totally. In the younger patients aged less than 65 years both values were 82%. Photographic nerve fibre loss was found in 69% of normal eyes from patients aged more than 65 years, leading to a low specificity of 31% in this age group. Age related nerve fibre loss and clinically insignificant cataracts were the most obvious causes of non-glaucomatous nerve fibre loss.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Odense University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pugesgaard
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Autzen
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Work
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology*; D010781:Photography; D011897:Random Allocation; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology*; D058609:Visual Field Tests