Anterior chamber depth measurement in teenagers. Comparison of two techniques

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine the anterior chamber depth (ACD) in teenagers using two different devices: partial coherence interferometry IOLMaster (Carl Zeiss Meditec) and anterior segment optical coherence tomography (Visante™ OCT, Carl Zeiss Meditec) and to evaluate the degree of agreement between ACD measurements carried out by both instruments. Methods: In this prospective study 68 eyes of 34 emmetropic Caucasic patients (18 girls and 16 boys) were analysed. ACD was measured from the anterior corneal surface to anterior surface of the crystalline lens. For each age the ACD size was calculated and the difference between IOLMaster and Visante-OCT measurements was analysed using Bland–Altman plot and paired t-test. Results: For all data the mean (SD) anterior chamber depth was 3.56 (0.19) mm with the IOLMaster and 3.65 (0.21) mm with the Visante-OCT. IOLMaster measurements were an average of 0.10 (0.12) mm less than Visante-OCT (paired t-test, p < 0.0001). In our study ACD mean differences (SD) by age obtained had been −0.139 (0.163), −0.044 (0.112), −0.082 (0.054) and −0.105 (0.101) for 13, 14, 15 and 17 respectively. The 13-age group showed the larger standard deviation compared to the other groups. Conclusions: IOLMaster and Visante-OCT are good and useful non-contact methods for measuring ACD in the healthy eyes of teenagers. The measurement differences between two devices were quite small, however, they should take into account in order to calculate the power on intraocular lens. The findings provide more normative date for this age group