title: Assessment of rates of structural change in glaucoma using imaging technologies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review the ability of current imaging technologies to provide estimates of rates of structural change in glaucoma patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Review of literature.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Imaging technologies, such as confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (CSLO), scanning laser polarimetry (SLP), and optical coherence tomography (OCT), provide quantifiable and reproducible measurements of the optic disc and parapapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL). Rates of change as quantified by the rim area (RA) (for CSLO) and RNFL thickness (for SLP and OCT) are related to glaucoma progression as detected by conventional methods (eg, visual fields and optic disc photography). Evidence shows that rates of RNFL and RA loss are significantly faster in progressing compared with non-progressing glaucoma patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Measurements of rates of optic disc and RNFL change are becoming increasingly precise and individualized. Currently available imaging technologies have the ability to detect and quantify progression in glaucoma, and their measurements may be suitable end points in glaucoma clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Hamilton Glaucoma Center, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mansouri
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Leite
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Medeiros
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Weinreb
mesh_terms: D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; D018450:Disease Progression; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D009887:Ophthalmoscopy / Q000379:methods; D057109:Scanning Laser Polarimetry; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods