Use of OCT for Glaucoma Specialists

Abstract

Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is a chronic and progressive optic neuropathy characterized by retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) loss and neuro-retinal rim tissue thinning with progressive visual field (VF) damage.
The basic pathology is the progressive loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), especially the apoptosis of the axons of ganglion cells, followed by peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) defects. Glaucoma predominantly affects the inner macular retinal layers: the macular RNFL (m RNFL), ganglion cell layer (GCL) and inner plexiform layer (IPL), where ganglion cell complex (GCC) consists of RNFL, GCL and IPL thickness.
The ability to detect structural loss is fundamental in the diagnosis and management of glaucoma. While glaucomatous structural damage can be assessed clinically by examining the optic nerve head (ONH) and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), the introduction of ocular imaging modalities has supplemented the clinical diagnosis and hence it is possible to either slow or prevent the progression of vision loss by adequate early treatment and management of glaucoma.
In recent years, along with visual fields, optical coherence tomography (OCT) has become an important modality for the early diagnosis of glaucoma disease and the monitoring and analysis of glaucoma patients.