Agreement between retinal nerve fiber layer measures from Spectralis and Cirrus spectral domain OCT.

Purpose: An assessment of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) provides important information on the health of the optic nerve. There are several non-invasive technologies, including spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT), that can be used for in vivo imaging and quantification of the RNFL, but often there is disagreement in RNFL thickness between clinical instruments. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of scan centration, ocular magnification, and segmentation on the degree of agreement of RNFL thickness measures by two SD OCT instruments.

Correlating RNFL thickness by OCT with perimetric sensitivity in glaucoma patients.

Purpose: To determine whether a structure-function model developed for normal age-related losses of retinal ganglion cells also models the retinal ganglion cell losses in glaucomatous optic neuropathy.

Methods: The model to relate age-related loss of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and reduced sensitivity for standard automated perimetry was evaluated with data from 30 glaucoma patients and 40 normal individuals. Perimetry thresholds were translated into separate retinal ganglion cell body estimates for test locations in the superior and inferior visual fields.

Retinal nerve fiber layer assessment: area versus thickness measurements from elliptical scans centered on the optic nerve.

Purpose: An evaluation of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) provides important information on the health of the optic nerve. Standard measurements of the RNFL consider only thickness, but an accurate assessment should also consider axial length, size of the optic nerve head (ONH), blood vessel contribution, and distance of the scan from the ONH margin. In addition, although most primate ONHs are elliptical, the circular scan centered on the ONH is the mainstay in both clinical and research analyses.

Age-related losses of retinal ganglion cells and axons.

Purpose: Age-related losses in retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness have been assumed to be the result of an age-dependent reduction of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), but the published rates differ: age-related losses of RGCs of approximately 0.6%/year compared to 0.2%/year for thinning of the RNFL.

Modeling the effects of aging on retinal ganglion cell density and nerve fiber layer thickness.

Purpose: The effects of aging on retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness should reflect the age-related losses in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), but published data suggest that the relative rate of thinning of RNFL thickness with age is less than predicted by age-related losses of RGCs. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to reconcile the differences in age-dependency on measures of RGCs and axons that are incorporated in normative clinical data.

Methods: Normative data for RNFL thickness and visual field sensitivities were obtained from the printouts of standard optical coherence tomography (OCT) and standard automated perimetry (SAP) for patients aged between 25 and 95 years, in decade steps.