Jüde T., Klemm M., Rumberger E.

University Eye Hospital Hamburg, Martinistr. 52, D - 20246 Hamburg

Introduction: Usually eye examinations are starting with the right eye. In addition to anatomical reasons differences between both eyes could be caused by matter of practise. RNFL thickness measurements of 30 healthy subjects done by Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT) showed mean values for the right eyes of 248 µm compared to the left eyes with 265 µm. Perimetry with Humphrey Field Analyzer (HFA) showed a mean deviation for the right eyes of -1.05 versus left eyes 0.79.
Subjects and Methods: To avoid bias due to the sequence of measurements, 35 healthy subjects between 18 und 75 years (15 male, 20 female) were examined in randomized order using HRT and HFA.
Results: The mean RNFL thickness was 228.5 µm for the right eyes, 245 µm for the left eyes. The first examined eye showed a lower mean RNFL thickness versus the second measured eye (232.3 µm versus 242.2 µm, p> 0.05). RNFL of the first measured eye was thicker 17 times, thinner 18 times. When the right eye was examined first, mean RNFL was thicker than left in 6 subjects of 35. The absolute difference was -26.1 +/- 64.2 µm. When left eye was examined first, mean RNFL was thicker than right in 11 of 35 subjects. Difference to the right eye was +6.9 +/- 59.9 µm. There was no difference in MD between right (-1.20 +/-1.7) and left (-0.95 +/-1.4) eyes. When right eyes preceded, the difference of the mean deviation in visual fields (MD) was -0.52 +/- 0.92, when left eyes preceded the difference was 0.047 +/-0.66, (p < 0.05).
Discussion: Independent of sequence of examination measurements right eyes tend to show a thinner RNFL thickness measured with HRT. Measurements done with HFA showed a significant lower MD for the right eyes. Reasons for these differences require further investigations.

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