| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
1From the Harvard Medical School and Wellman Center of Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; and 2Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
PURPOSE. Thinning of the retinal nerve fiber layer and changes in retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) birefringence may both precede clinically detectable glaucomatous vision loss. Early detection of RNFL changes may enable treatment to prevent permanent loss of vision. Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) can provide objective information on RNFL thickness and birefringence.
METHODS. PS-OCT scans around the optic nerve head (ONH) of two healthy young volunteers were made using 10 concentric circles of increasing radius. Both the mean RNFL thickness and mean retinal nerve fiber birefringence for each of 48 sectors on a circle were determined with data analysis.
RESULTS. Both the RNFL thickness and birefringence varied as a function of sector around the ONH. The RNFL became thinner with increasing distance from the ONH. In contrast, the birefringence did not vary significantly as a function of radius.
CONCLUSIONS. Birefringence of healthy RNFL is constant as a function of scan radius but varies as a function of position around the ONH, with higher thickness values occurring superior and inferior to the ONH. Measured double-pass phase retardation per unit depth around the ONH ranged between 0.10 and 0.35 deg/µm, equivalent to birefringences of 1.2 x 10–4 and 4.1 x 10–4 respectively, measured at a wavelength of 840 nm. Consequently, when a spatially constant birefringence around the ONH is assumed, the conversion of scanning laser polarimetry (SLP) phase-retardation measurements to RNFL thickness may yield incorrect values. The data do not invalidate the clinical value of a phase-retardation measurement, but affect the conversion of phase retardation to RNFL thickness.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  K A Townsend, G Wollstein, and J S Schuman Imaging of the retinal nerve fibre layer for glaucoma Br. J. Ophthalmol., February 1, 2009; 93(2): 139 - 143. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. Gotzinger, M. Pircher, B. Baumann, C. Hirn, C. Vass, and C. K. Hitzenberger Analysis of the Origin of Atypical Scanning Laser Polarimetry Patterns by Polarization-Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., December 1, 2008; 49(12): 5366 - 5372. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. Fortune, G. A. Cull, and C. F. Burgoyne Relative Course of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Birefringence and Thickness and Retinal Function Changes after Optic Nerve Transection Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., October 1, 2008; 49(10): 4444 - 4452. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. Fortune, L. Wang, G. Cull, and G. A. Cioffi Intravitreal Colchicine Causes Decreased RNFL Birefringence without Altering RNFL Thickness Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., January 1, 2008; 49(1): 255 - 261. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
T. S. Aleman, A. V. Cideciyan, E. A. M. Windsor, S. B. Schwartz, M. Swider, J. D. Chico, A. Sumaroka, A. Y. Pantelyat, K. G. Duncan, L. M. Gardner, et al. Macular Pigment and Lutein Supplementation in ABCA4-Associated Retinal Degenerations Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., March 1, 2007; 48(3): 1319 - 1329. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. Pircher, E. Gotzinger, O. Findl, S. Michels, W. Geitzenauer, C. Leydolt, U. Schmidt-Erfurth, and C. K. Hitzenberger Human Macula Investigated In Vivo with Polarization-Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., December 1, 2006; 47(12): 5487 - 5494. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
N. J. Reus, Q. Zhou, and H. G. Lemij Enhanced imaging algorithm for scanning laser polarimetry with variable corneal compensation. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., September 1, 2006; 47(9): 3870 - 3877. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. M. Wild, C. R. Robson, A. L. Jones, I. A. Cunliffe, and P. E. M. Smith Detecting vigabatrin toxicity by imaging of the retinal nerve fiber layer. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., March 1, 2006; 47(3): 917 - 924. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
X.-R. Huang and R. W. Knighton Microtubules Contribute to the Birefringence of the Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., December 1, 2005; 46(12): 4588 - 4593. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. C. Chen, B. Cense, M. C. Pierce, N. Nassif, B. H. Park, S. H. Yun, B. R. White, B. E. Bouma, G. J. Tearney, and J. F. de Boer Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography: Ultra-high Speed, Ultra-high Resolution Ophthalmic Imaging Arch Ophthalmol, December 1, 2005; 123(12): 1715 - 1720. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
C. K.-s. Leung, W.-m. Chan, K. K.-L. Chong, W.-h. Yung, K.-t. Tang, J. Woo, W.-m. Chan, and K.-k. Tse Comparative Study of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Measurement by StratusOCT and GDx VCC, I: Correlation Analysis in Glaucoma Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., September 1, 2005; 46(9): 3214 - 3220. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
X.-R. Huang, H. Bagga, D. S. Greenfield, and R. W. Knighton Variation of Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Birefringence in Normal Human Subjects Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., September 1, 2004; 45(9): 3073 - 3080. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
