[Exploration of the anterior segment by optical coherence tomography-3]

To show the utility of optical coherence tomography (OCT) for studying the anterior segment and to explain its potential advantages as compared to ultrasonic biomicroscopy (UBM).

We have described the findings in 5 patients with different pathologies of the anterior segment, all of whom were studied with UBM and OCT-3 adjusted for the anterior segment. There were 2 cases of an acute attack of closed angle glaucoma, 1 case of rubeosis iridis, 1 case of penetrating ocular trauma and 1 case of a primary stromal iris cyst.

OCT was found to be as useful as UBM in detecting angle closure in patients affected by an acute attack of glaucoma. In addition, OCT was more comfortable for the patient and faster than UBM in obtaining images, with the exploration mean time using OCT being less than five minutes while that with UBM was over ten minutes. OCT has also been demonstrated to be a safe and valuable non-contact examination in other iris pathologies such as rubeosis iridis, for checking the permeability of iridotomies and even for studying iris masses such as primary stromal iris cysts. In these entities OCT may reach a higher resolution than ultrasonic biomicroscopy.

OCT-3, with an adjustable focus, can obtain images from the scleral angle, as well as from other ocular structures like the iris, thus assisting in the diagnosis of numerous pathologies.