UC San Diego

Purpose

To evaluate and compare the diagnostic accuracy of global and sector analyses for detection of early visual field (VF) damage using the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) reference databases of the Spectralis (Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany) and Cirrus (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA) spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT) devices.

Methods

Healthy subjects and glaucoma suspects from the Diagnostic Innovations in Glaucoma Study (DIGS) and African Descent and Glaucoma Evaluation Study (ADAGES) with at least 2 years of follow-up were included. Global and sectoral RNFL measures were classified as within normal limits, borderline (BL), and outside normal limits (ONL) on the basis of the device reference databases. The sensitivity of ONL classification was estimated in glaucoma suspect eyes that developed repeatable VF damage.

Results

A total of 353 glaucoma suspect eyes and 279 healthy eyes were included. A total of 34 (9.6%) of the glaucoma suspect eyes developed VF damage. In glaucoma suspect eyes, Spectralis and Cirrus ONL classification was present in 47 eyes (13.3%) and 24 eyes (6.8%), respectively. The sensitivity of the global RNFL ONL classification among eyes that developed VF damage was 23.5% for Cirrus and 32.4% for Spectralis. The specificity of within-normal-limits global classification in healthy eyes was 100% for Cirrus and 99.6% for Spectralis. There was moderate to substantial agreement between Cirrus and Spectralis classification as ONL.

Conclusions

The Spectralis and Cirrus reference databases have a high specificity for identifying healthy eyes and good agreement for detection of eyes with early glaucoma damage.