Glaucoma is assessed in 4 main ways when you see an ophthalmologist:
1. Measuring your eye pressure
2. Assessing your drainage system (using gonioscopy)
3. Examining the visual field (the peripheral vision)
4. Examining the optic nerve
5. Scanning the nerve and retina at the back of the eye
You may also require a measurement of your corneal thickness (called pachymetry). This important measurement helps us interpret your eye pressure. As a general rule the thicker the cornea the higher the pressure is measured, and vice versa.
Sometimes you may also benefit from more detailed assessments such as scans of the front of your eye and its drainage system called an anterior segment OCT or UBM, an ultrasound scan of the front of your eye.
Patient having an OCT scan of the back of their eye
An OCT (ocular coherence tomography) scan is a specialist scan used to assess the nerve and retina and is used to monitor your glaucoma.
We are able to use this very specialised nerve and retinal scan to pick up changes earlier than the standard tests for glaucoma. Though these are mostly used for monitoring your glaucoma, they also help when you are first seen in clinic and can help with diagnosing glaucoma as well.
These scans are able to examine not just the optic disc (A and C) but also the part of the retina most affected by glaucoma (B).