Finding cases of angle-closure glaucoma in clinic setting using a newly developed instrument.

PURPOSE: To validate the applicability of a newly developed, noncontact scanning peripheral anterior chamber depth analyzer (SPAC) for screening eyes at the risk of angle-closure glaucoma (ACG). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: All glaucoma patients who visited the University of Yamanashi Hospital from February through May 2003 were enrolled, except those with aphakic eye or pseudophakic eye. Of the 552 enrolled patients, 48 with ACG or narrow angles requiring laser iridotomy (LI) were categorized as patients with high-risk ACG eyes, and those with open angle were categorized as patients with control eyes. In all, 20 patients with ACG or narrow angles requiring prophylactic LI, who were followed up by an independent private ophthalmic clinic, were enrolled for threshold analysis. Nonophthalmologists measured anterior chamber depth and the averaged values of three measurements were employed for analysis. Threshold analysis and discriminant analysis were employed for determining the sensitivity and specificity of SPAC for diagnosing eyes with high-risk ACG.
RESULTS: SPAC distinguished well the high-risk ACG eyes from the control eyes, and one of the most useful criteria for screening is as follows: any of the four measured points should exceed 95% confidence interval, and sensitivity and specificity should be 97.6 and 83.5%, respectively.
CONCLUSION: SPAC is thought to be useful for detecting eyes at the risk of ACG by nonophthalmologists.