A recent Chinese study sought to assess the performance of anterior-segment swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) to diagnose primary angle closure disease (PACD). Researchers evaluated 366 eyes of 260 patients and determined that the technique’s anterior-chamber depth measurement was very effective in distinguishing between eyes with PACD and normal control eyes. According to Ping Ma, MD, PhD, and colleagues reporting in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, with both high sensitivity (82%) and specificity (62.8%), the technique can effectively screen for PACD as well as distinguish eyes with PAC or PAC glaucoma (PACG) from eyes with PAC suspect (PACS) disease.

The multicenter, cross-sectional study assembled patients into 3 groups: control, PACS, and PAC/PACG. Diagnostic models were developed from 2,928 SS-OCT images, and logistic regression model receiver operating characteristic curves were used to evaluate discriminating ability, focusing on the area under the curve and calculating sensitivity and specificity. The models’ diagnostic performance was validated with an additional 1,176 SS-OCT images in an independent data set.

Evaluation of SS-OCT images of the anterior segment revealed excellent diagnostic performance distinguishing PACD from normal eyes, and moderate performance distinguishing PAC/PACG eyes from those with PACS. The study also highlighted that anterior-chamber depth alone may provide a simple and effective way to diagnose PACD, as it can be obtained using more commonly available modalities and may be effective for the early diagnosis of PACD.