Factors Affecting Intraocular Pressure Measurement and New Methods for Improving Accuracy; What Can IOP Tell Us about Glaucoma? How Can Practitioners Improve IOP Utility and Glaucoma Outcomes?

Abstract

An increased awareness of how central corneal thickness (CCT) and corneal material properties such as corneal hysteresis has changed both tonometry accuracy and the resultant understanding of glaucoma risk. New research findings and methods of tonometry provide differing information on the diagnosis and treatment of ocular conditions which should be understood to appropriately incorporate this information into individual patient care. Additionally, a useful re-examination of what IOP can tell us about glaucoma empowers practitioners to improve glaucoma outcomes. All clinically utilized tonometry methods are estimates of true IOP, which is only assessed using direct intracameral techniques. Different described tonometry techniques are associated with their own overall bias and interpatient variability, due most typically to tissue biomechanics.