The glaucoma suspect: differentiation of the future glaucomatous eye from the non-glaucomatous suspect eye. 1. Ultrasonic measurements and eye-wall stress.

We examined the eyes of a group of patients entered into and still continuing in a glaucoma suspect study. Over time, some remained unchanged while others developed chronic open-angle glaucoma (COAG). By comparing the data obtained by ultrasonic measurement of the axial length (A) and central corneal thickness (CCT), along with measurement of intra-ocular pressure (IOP) from these patients and normal control subjects, we found no differences. However, by combining these factors in a calculation of eye-wall stress we found a significant difference between the glaucoma suspect and the future glaucomatous eye.