Purpose:
To determine the diagnostic accuracy of scanning laser polarimetry (SLP) parameters obtained with enhanced corneal compensation (ECC) versus variable corneal compensation (VCC), and any effect of atypical birefringence patterns (ABP) on this diagnostic accuracy.
Methods:
Forty-one healthy and 92 glaucomatous eyes were imaged with both VCC and ECC. For both ECC and VCC, the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC), and the sensitivity at a specificity of ≥ 95% were calculated per parameter in all eyes and re-calculated in eyes without ABP images.
Results:
With ECC, the diagnostic accuracy for most standard parameters in all eyes was statistically significantly higher with ECC than with VCC, except for the Nerve Fiber Indicator (NFI). After removing the eyes with ABP from the analysis, the diagnostic accuracy of SLP parameters with VCC improved to a similar level as with ECC (Table).
Conclusions:
With ECC, the diagnostic accuracy was generally higher than with VCC, probably due to less ABP in ECC. The NFI performed, however, equally well for VCC and ECC, regardless of any ABP.Table. Diagnostic accuracy of various SLP parameters, with ECC and VCC, expressed as AUROC, and sensitivity at a set specificity of ≥ 95%, in all eyes (n = 133 eyes, of which 92 glaucomatous)/ in eyes without ABP (n = 84, of which 53 glaucomatous). : paired test after Delong et al: McNemar testReference DeLong ER et al. Comparing the areas under two or more correlated receiver operating characteristic curves: a nonparametric approach. Biometrics 1988; 240: 1285-93.
Keywords: optic disc • nerve fiber layer