Detection of retinal nerve fibre layer progression: comparison of the fast and extended modes of GDx guided progression analysis.

Purpose: To compare detection of retinal nerve fibre layer changes using GDx guided progression analysis (GPA) fast mode (which assumes fixed variability of a reference population) and extended mode (which measures individual variability), and to determine how they compare with photography and conventional visual field-based methods for identifying glaucoma progression.

Methods: 172 eyes from 117 participants in the Diagnostic Innovations in Glaucoma Study (12 healthy, 108 glaucoma suspects and 52 glaucoma eyes) with ≥ 4 GDx VCC visits and ≥ 3 good quality GDx VCC scans at each visit were included.

Results: Agreement between the GDx GPA fast mode and GDx GPA extended mode was limited.

Role of imaging in glaucoma diagnosis and follow-up.

The purpose of the review is to provide an update on the role of imaging devices in the diagnosis and follow-up of glaucoma with an emphasis on techniques for detecting glaucomatous progression and the newer spectral domain optical coherence tomography instruments. Imaging instruments provide objective quantitative measures of the optic disc and the retinal nerve fiber layer and are increasingly utilized in clinical practice. This review will summarize the recent enhancements in confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, scanning laser polarimetry, and optical coherence tomography with an emphasis on how to utilize these techniques to manage glaucoma patients and highlight the strengths and limitations of each technology.