Glaucoma Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Glaucoma, including details on cataracts, surgery, treatment, blindness.

Assessment of the scleral spur in anterior segment optical coherence tomography images.

Sakata LM, Lavanya R, Friedman DS, Aung HT, Seah SK, Foster PJ, Aung T

Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore 168751.

OBJECTIVE: To assess visibility of the scleral spur in anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) images. METHODS: This cross-sectional observational study included 502 participants aged 50 years or older who had no previous ophthalmic problems and were recruited from a community clinic in Singapore. All participants underwent gonioscopy and AS-OCT (Visante; Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, California). Scleral spur location was assessed in AS-OCT images by 2 examiners with glaucoma subspecialty training and was defined as the point where there was an inward protrusion of the sclera with a change in curvature of its inner surface. RESULTS: Scleral spur location could be determined in 72% of the images of the right eye. Its location on AS-OCT images was less detectable in quadrants with a closed angle on gonioscopy and also in images obtained in the superior and inferior compared with the nasal and temporal quadrants (64%, 67%, 75%, and 80%, respectively; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The inability to detect the scleral spur may hamper quantitative analysis of anterior chamber angle parameters that are dependent on the location of this anatomical structure, particularly in the superior and inferior quadrants. New parameters independent of the scleral spur may be useful for detecting eyes at risk of angle closure.

Published 12 February 2008 in Arch Ophthalmol, 126(2): 181-5.
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