Comparison of anterior chamber depth measurements taken with the Pentacam, Orbscan IIz and IOLMaster in myopic and emmetropic eyes.

PURPOSE: This study determined to assess the degree of agreement between anterior chamber depth (ACD) measurements obtained using three different devices and to analyse the relationship between ACD and spherical equivalent (SE) refraction.
METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 42 eyes of 42 patients with a mean SE of - 4.69 +/- 4.61 D (range 0.00 D to - 14.88 D) were analysed. Measurements of ACD between the corneal epithelium and the anterior surface of the crystalline lens, obtained using the Pentacam, Orbscan IIz and IOLMaster, were compared. The relationships between SE and ACD measurements obtained with different devices were also investigated. The results were analysed using Bland-Altman analyses, single-sample t-test and Pearson's correlation test.
RESULTS: Orbscan ACD measurements were an average of 0.05 mm less than Pentacam measurements (p = 0.01). IOLMaster measurements were an average of 0.06 mm less than Orbscan measurements (p < 0.001). None of the ACD values measured by any of the devices were correlated with increasing SE (p > 0.05 for all). There was a weak positive correlation between SE and the difference in ACD measurements with Pentacam and Orbscan (p = 0.04); however, the differences between Pentacam and IOLMaster ACD measurements and Orbscan and IOLMaster ACD measurements seemed to be independent of SE (p = 0.17 and p = 0.54, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: The ACD in clinically normal eyes is measured differently by various non-ultrasonic devices. However, the observed mean error between these modalities is too small to create any noticeable difference in refractive outcome. No significant relationship was found between SE and ACD measurements obtained by Pentacam, Orbscan or IOLMaster.