Avaliação da mácula e camada de fibras nervosas peripapilar em olhos normais, glaucomatosos e com suspeita de glaucoma utilizando a tomografia de coerência óptica

Purpose: To evaluate macular thickness and peripapillary nerve fiber layer thickness in normal, glaucoma suspects and glaucomatous eyes with prototype optical coherence tomography unit. Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated 367 subjects (534 eyes), including 166 eyes of 109 normal subjects, 83 eyes of 58 glaucoma suspects, 196 eyes of 132 early glaucoma subjects with visual field defect in one hemifield and 89 eyes of 68 advanced glaucoma subjects with visual field defect in both hemifields. All subjects underwent a thorough ophthalmologic examination and prototype optical coherence tomography test on the same day. Results: All nerve fiber layer parameters were statistically significantly different comparing normal eyes and either early or advanced glaucomatous eyes (p=0.0001). Inner ring, outer ring and mean macular thickness were found to be significantly different between normal eyes and advanced glaucomatous eyes (p=0.0001).The outer ring (p=0.003) and the mean macular thickness (p=0.04) were the only macular parameters that could significantly differentiate between normal eyes and early glaucomatous eyes. The only parameter that was found to differ between the normal and the glaucoma suspect group was the inferior quadrant of the nerve fiber layer thickness (p=0.02). Conclusion: Both macular and peripapillary nerve fiber layer thickness measurements were reduced in glaucomatous eyes compared with normal eyes. Macular and nerve fiber layer thickness measurements made with optical coherence tomography may have utility in the clinical assessment of glaucoma.