Glaucoma Diagnostic Performance of Retinal Blood Flow Measurement With Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Medical Imaging
• Glaucoma Research

Background:

• Glaucoma diagnosis relies on structural and functional assessments.
• Retinal blood flow (RBF) changes may precede structural damage in glaucoma.
• Doppler optical coherence tomography (OCT) offers a non-invasive method to measure RBF.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the diagnostic performance of RBF measured with Doppler OCT.
• To differentiate between healthy and glaucoma-affected eyes.
• To assess the combined diagnostic utility of RBF and RNFLT.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-eight normal tension glaucoma (NTG) patients and 44 healthy controls were enrolled.
• Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) and RBF in temporal arteries (TAs) and veins (TVs) were measured using OCT.
• Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was employed to compare diagnostic performances.

Main Results:

• RBF in TAs and TVs was significantly reduced in both damaged and healthy hemispheres of NTG eyes.
• Area under the curve (AUC) for RNFLT, TA RBF, and TV RBF showed high diagnostic performance.
• Combining RNFLT and RBF measurements significantly improved AUC values in both hemispheres.

Conclusions:

• Reduced RBF is present in NTG eyes, independent of structural changes.
• Combining RNFLT and RBF measurements enhances diagnostic accuracy for glaucoma.
• Doppler OCT-based RBF assessment is a valuable tool for glaucoma diagnosis.