[Can the extent of glaucoma damage be quantified with laser polarimetry by in vivo measurement of retinal nerve fiber density? A clinical study].
Thirty-eight eyes of 38 glaucoma patients with a defined up-down asymmetry of visual field loss (VFL) were examined to ascertain whether there was corresponding up-down asymmetry of nerve fiber layer thickness (NFLT), calculated by laser polarimetry (LP). The correspondence was found to be closer for small up-down asymmetry of VFL then for medium or large up-down asymmetry. An approximately 6% greater NFLT in the lower than in the upper retinal half was revealed found by examination of 62 eyes of 62 normals. Considering this NFLT asymmetry in normals, there was a non-significant tendency towards correspondence between the up-down asymmetry of VFL and the up-down asymmetry of NFLT for the group of glaucoma patients with large up-down asymmetry of VFL. However, in about 40% of cases there was no such correspondence, so that staging of the glaucomatous disease has to be done by perimetry and is not possible by LP (software version 06/93).
Serguhn
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S
Universitäts-Augenklinik, Würzburg.
Gramer
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E
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology*; D009887:Ophthalmoscopy; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000473:pathology; D012016:Reference Values; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology*; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology