Posterior pole asymmetry analysis with optical coherence tomography.
BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility of the posterior pole asymmetry analysis (PPAA) in glaucomatous eyes and healthy controls in comparison to retinal nerve fiber layer measurements (RNFL) with spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).


METHODS
Prospectively, in a single session by one operator, three measurements were taken of the retinal thickness with the PPAA and three measurements of the RNFL with the eye-tracker function of the Heidelberg Spectralis SD-OCT.


RESULTS
The mean intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and lower confidence intervals (in parentheses) for PPAA were 0.98 (0.96) in both healthy (36 eyes) and glaucomatous eyes (26 eyes). Global coefficients of variation (COVs) were between 0.0 and 1.1% in healthy controls and between 0.0 and 1.9% in glaucoma eyes. Global ICCs for RNFL were 0.98 (0.96) in healthy controls and 0.98 (0.97) in glaucoma eyes and global COVs were between 0.0 and 6.8% in healthy controls and between 0.0 and 3.0% in glaucoma eyes.


CONCLUSIONS
Reproducibility of the PPAA was good and exceeds that of established RNFL measurements. Thus, PPAA is an additional useful tool in management of glaucoma.
UniversityHospital Zurich, Department of Ophthalmology, Zurich, Switzerland.
L
L
Kochendörfer
Cantonal Hospital Winterthur, Department of Ophthalmology, Winterthur, Switzerland.
P
P
Bauer
UniversityHospital Zurich, Department of Ophthalmology, Zurich, Switzerland.
J
J
Funk
UniversityHospital Zurich, Department of Ophthalmology, Zurich, Switzerland.
M
M
Töteberg-Harms
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*