UCLA

Purpose

Macular imaging with optical coherence tomography (OCT) measures the most critical retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in the human eye. The goal of this perspective is to review the challenges to detection of glaucoma progression with macular OCT imaging and propose ways to enhance its performance.

Design

Perspective with review of relevant literature.

Methods

Review of challenges and issues related to detection of change on macular OCT images in glaucoma eyes. The primary outcome measures were confounding factors affecting the detection of change on macular OCT images.

Results

The main challenges to detection of structural progression in the macula consist of the magnitude of and the variable amount of test-retest variability among patients, the confounding effect of aging, lack of a reliable and easy-to-measure functional outcome or external standard, the confounding effects of concurrent macular conditions including myopia, and the measurement floor of macular structural outcomes. Potential solutions to these challenges include controlling head tilt or torsion during imaging, estimating within-eye variability for individual patients, improved data visualization, the use of artificial intelligence methods, and the implementation of statistical approaches suitable for multidimensional longitudinal data.

Conclusions

Macular OCT imaging is a crucial structural imaging modality for assessing central RGCs. Addressing the current shortcomings in acquisition and analysis of macular volume scans can enhance its utility for measuring the health of central RGCs and therefore assist clinicians with timely institution of appropriate treatment.