Comparison of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness (RNFLT) Measurements in Normal and Glaucomatous Human Eyes by Optical Coherence Tomography
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70749/ijbr.v3i7.3046Keywords:
Glaucoma, Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer, RNFL Thickness, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT).Abstract
Purpose: To compare retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) between normal and glaucomatous human eye with Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). Design and Patient setting: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study which was carried out at the Department of Ophthalmology, Independent University Hospital, Faisalabad. Methods: Non-probability consecutive sampling was used to select a total of 60 participants, including 30 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma ( POAG ) and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy people. Each of the subjects had a thorough ophthalmological check-up with intraocular pressure (IOP) and OCT imaging. Superior, inferior, nasal, and temporal on four quadrants measured RNFL thickness using Stratus OCT and analyzed it with SPSS version 25. The independent sample t-test was used, and the p-value- 0.05 was regarded as significant. Findings: The average RNFL thickness in glaucomatous eyes was considerably reduced (66.02/9.68 0.001) to that of the controls (92.48/8.28 0.001). Quadrant-wise examination showed that all quadrants had significant thinning with the largest decrease seen in inferior (55.24 ± 12.43 µm) and superior (76.38 ± 14.45 µm) regions. There were also significant differences in nasal (56.94 ± 12.94 µm) and temporal (49.04 ± 10.45 µm) quadrants, which were statistically significant. The mean IOP was significantly greater in glaucoma patients (24.8) than in controls (15.2 ± 2.8 mmHg, p < 0.001). Conclusion: RNFL is less in glaucomatous eyes and OCT is a good, non-invasive instrument in the detection and follow up of early stages of glaucoma and preventable loss of vision.
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