The Discriminatory Ability of Ganglion Cell Inner Plexiform Layer Complex Thickness in Patients with Preperimetric Glaucoma

Bhavya Mehta; Somesh Ranjan; Vinod Sharma; Neha Singh; Nidhi Raghav; Acid Dholakia; Rahul Bhargava; P Laxmi Sireesha Reddy; Pooja Bargujar

doi:10.4103/joco.joco_124_23

The Discriminatory Ability of Ganglion Cell Inner Plexiform Layer Complex Thickness in Patients with Preperimetric Glaucoma

J Curr Ophthalmol. 2024 Mar 29;35(3):231-237. doi: 10.4103/joco.joco_124_23. eCollection 2023 Jul-Sep.

Authors

Bhavya Mehta¹, Somesh Ranjan², Vinod Sharma³, Neha Singh¹, Nidhi Raghav², Acid Dholakia², Rahul Bhargava¹, P Laxmi Sireesha Reddy¹, Pooja Bargujar¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, GS Medical College and Hospital, Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
² Department of Ophthalmology, Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.
³ Department of Ophthalmology, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate diagnostic performance of ganglion cell inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) parameters measured with Cirrus high-definition optical coherence tomography (OCT) in patients with preperimetric glaucoma.

Methods: In this multicenter cross-sectional study, 150 eyes of 83 patients with preperimetric glaucoma were compared with 200 eyes of age and sex matched healthy subjects. All patients had visual field testing and OCT scanning of GCIPL and RNFL in all quadrants. The independent Samples t-test was used to determine if a difference exists between the means of two independent groups on a continuous dependent variable. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of each parameter was calculated for discriminatory ability between normal controls and preperimetric glaucoma. The sensitivity and specificity were estimated by point coordinates on ROC curve.

Results: The best parameters for distinguishing preperimetric glaucoma from healthy eyes were the combined average GCIPL + average RNFL, followed by average RNFL + GCIPL (inferotemporal), and average RNFL + GCIPL (minimum). The GCIPL parameters with the highest to lowest AUC (in decreasing order) were inferotemporal, followed by average, minimum, superior, inferior, superonasal, inferonasal, superotemporal, and quadrants. The RNFL parameters with the highest to lowest AUC (in decreasing order) were average, followed by nasal, temporal, superior, and inferior quadrants. The sensitivity of combined GCIPL + RNFL parameters ranged 85%-88% and the specificity ranged 76%-88%. The sensitivity for RNFL parameters ranged 80%-90% and the specificity ranged 64%-88%.

Conclusion: GCIPL and RNFL have good discriminatory ability; the sensitivity and specificity increase when both parameters are combined for early detection of glaucoma.

Keywords: Ganglion cell inner plexiform layer; Preperimetric glaucoma; Retinal nerve fiber layer.