Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to compare optic disk area as measured by Heidelberg Retinal Tomography (HRT) among the African-American, Caucasian-American, Asian-American, Latino-American, and Filipino-American populations.
Methods:
HRT data from 301 right eyes was retrospectively reviewed. All patients were categorized by race based on ethnicity and, when possible, country of origin. HRT data with standard deviation > 40 microns was excluded.
Results:
Differences in global disk area were statistically insignificant between all groups except for Caucasian-Americans who were smaller than all other groups (p<0.05 for all).
Conclusions:
The global optic disk area as measured by HRT was significantly smaller for Caucasian-Americans than African, Asian, Filipino and Latino-Americans. There were no other significant differences in global optic disk area among these groups. These findings may have clinical significance in the evaluation of various races for the assessment of glaucoma.
Keywords: optic disc • imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound)