Macular ganglion cell imaging study: glaucoma diagnostic accuracy of spectral-domain optical coherence tomography

Abstract

Purpose: We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) measurements using a high-definition optical coherence tomography (Cirrus HD-OCT) ganglion cell analysis algorithm for detecting early and moderate-to-severe glaucoma.

Methods: Totals of 119 normal subjects and 306 glaucoma patients (164 patients with early glaucoma and 142 with moderate-to-severe glaucoma) were enrolled from the Macular Ganglion Cell Imaging Study. Macular GCIPL, peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, and optic nerve head (ONH) parameters were measured in each subject. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROCs) were calculated and compared. Based on the internal normative database, the sensitivity and specificity for detecting early and moderate-to-severe glaucoma were calculated.

Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the AUROCs for the best OCT parameters. For detecting early glaucoma, the sensitivity of the Cirrus GCIPL parameters ranged from 26.8% to 73.2% and that of the Cirrus RNFL parameters ranged from 6.1% to 61.6%. For the early glaucoma group, the best parameter from the GCIPL generally had a higher sensitivity than those of the RNFL and ONH parameters with comparable specificity (P < 0.05, McNemar's test).

Conclusions: There were no significant differences between the AUROCs for Cirrus GCIPL, RNFL, and ONH parameters, indicating that these maps have similar diagnostic potentials for glaucoma. The minimum GCIPL showed better glaucoma diagnostic performance than the other parameters at comparable specificities. However, other GCIPL parameters showed performances comparable to those of the RNFL parameters.

Keywords: glaucoma; inner plexiform layer; optical coherence tomography; retinal ganglion cell.