SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY OF OPTIC DISC PARAMETERS IN CHRONIC GLAUCOMA

Purpose. Optic disc parameters are commonly used for the early detecti on of glaucomatous optic discs. We used receiver operating characteris tics (ROC) curves to illustrate the separation characteristics of diff erent disc parameters for this purpose. Methods. We performed computer perimetry and computerized optic disc topometry on 93 eyes of 53 subj ects with glaucoma and glaucoma-related diseases. The optic disc param eters were correlated with visual field indexes, and ROC curves for th e detection of glaucomatous disc changes were calculated. Results. Acc ording to clinical experience, the vertical cup/disc ratio was able to identify the glaucomatous eyes the most easily, whereas the neuroreti nal rim area was less helpful in this regard. In terms of the correlat ion of optic disc parameters with visual field indexes, the rim area w as the more powerful of the two. The cup volume showed neither separat ion of glaucomatous from normal eyes nor correlation with visual field indexes. Conclusions. The vertical cup-to-disc ratio is the most suit able for screening purposes, whereas the rim area is more valuable for follow-up evaluation.