Optical Coherence Tomography in Glaucoma

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. It is characterized by the accelerated death of retinal ganglion cells and is presented as progressive functional damage in the visual field. Disease detection is dependent on the clinical capabilities of the eye care provider identifying structural changes in the retina and optic nerve head region compatible with glaucoma. The first-line diagnostic tools for identifying glaucoma are clinical examination with direct or indirect ophthalmoscopy and/or stereoscopic optic nerve head photographs. Unfortunately, these tools are prone to high intra- and inter-observer variability. A number of imaging devices have been incorporated into clinical practice with the goal of early detection and quantification of structural glaucomatous changes in the retinal nerve fiber layer and optic nerve head. One of the commercially available glaucoma imaging devices is optical coherence tomography (OCT).OCT generates cross-sectional and three-dimensional images of retinal structures.Its application in glaucoma diagnostics and monitoring will be discussed in this chapter.

Keywords: Spectral domain, time domain, optical coherence tomography, retinal nerve fibre layer, resolution, glaucoma diagnosis, glaucoma progression, glaucoma monitoring, optic nerve head, peripapillary area, macula, pre-perimetric glaucoma, imaging, retina, laser.