Purpose: To study quantitative changes in anterior chamber angle (ACA) after laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI) in narrow-angle eyes using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT).
Methods: Eighteen subjects with narrow angles were imaged with AS-OCT for determining test-retest variability. Forty-six participants with narrow angles were scanned with AS-OCT before LPI and 4 weeks after LPI. The presence of ACA closure by both AS-OCT imaging and gonioscopy was compared before and after LPI. Three ACA parameters by AS-OCT, angle opening distance at 500 μm (AOD(500)), trabecular-ris space area at 500 μm (TISA(500)) and angle recess area at 500 μm (ARA(500)), at both nasal and temporal quadrants were incorporated for analysis. The increment of ACA parameters defined as exceeding the 95% confidence interval of test-retest variability was assessed after LPI.
Results: All 3 parameters obtained from the 18 eyes showed good measurement reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.850-0.979). Persistent angle closure was detected in 23.9% of eyes by gonioscopy, and in 34.8% of eyes by AS-OCT images at temporal quadrant after LPI. When assessed by measurement variability criteria, the percentage of eyes that showed no significant change in ACA parameters ranged from 23.9% to 45.7% after LPI.
Conclusions: Overall, ACA parameters changed significantly after LPI; however, when assessed by AS-OCT, ACA remained unchanged in some narrow-angle eyes despite LPI. Our findings suggest that multiple causes other than pupillary block may contribute to narrow-angle closure following LPI.