Measurement of The Depth and Angle of The Peripheral Anterior Chamber and Iris Thickness by Ultrasonographic Biomicroscopy

ABSTRACT

Measurement of the depth and angle of the anterior chamber can provide valuable information for the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of angle closure glaucoma. We measured the depth and angle of the peripheral anterior chamber in the normal and the angle closure glaucoma eyes by utilizing ultrasonographic biomicroscopy. We also measured the 4 directions of the depth and angle of the peripheral anterior chamber and iris thickness before and after dilation in the normal eyes. The mean depth and angle of the peripheral anterior chamber were 421 +/- 73 micro meter, 30.46 +/- 6.49 degree in the normal eyes and 294 +/- 25 micro meter, 29.12 +/- 3.75 degree in the angle closure glaucoma eyes respectively. The differences of the depth and angle of the peripheral anterior chamber between the two groups were statistically significant(P<0.05, respectively). The depth and angle of the peripheral anterior chamber significantly increased after dilation in the normal eyes(P<0.05, respectively). The thickness of the iris was 421 +/- 54 micro meter at the iris root site, 509 +/- 57 micro meter in at the middle site and 582 +/- 74 micro meter at the pupillary margin site.