Nerve Head Evaluation
The optic nerve is the area where glaucoma damage occurs. Special tests have been designed that take high-resolution scans of the optic nerve and nerve layer. These tests allow your eye-care provider to determine whether glaucoma is present and whether there is progression of the glaucoma nerve damage. A first test should be done at the time glaucoma is suspected and then repeated yearly. The optic nerve has approximately one million small nerve cells that carry the signal from your eye to your brain. These nerve cells enter the back of the eye through the nerve and then spread out like carpet covering the inside of the eye. As glaucoma causes damage to these cells, the nerve layer (carpet) begins to thin. The OCT and GDx test measure the thickness of the nerve layer in a highly accurate manner. By repeating these tests over time it can be determined whether the thickness of the nerve layer is stable (indicating no further glaucoma damage developing), or whether there is thinning occurring (suggestive of progressive nerve damage)
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