Mean amplitude of intraocular pressure excursions: a new assessment parameter for 24-h pressure fluctuations in glaucoma patients

Background Intraocular pressure (IOP) is important in the pathogenesis of glaucoma and its circadian fluctuations are important in the disease management; however, there are no adequate parameters to describe the fluctuations. This study investigates a new parameter, mean amplitude of intraocular pressure excursion (MAPE), and compares its ability in assessing 24-h IOP fluctuations with other ocular parameters. Methods Only the right eye was evaluated in each of the 79 healthy people and 164 untreated patients with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). Each participant underwent 24-h IOP monitoring by measuring IOP every 2 h. IOP fluctuations were expressed as MAPE calculations and currently used parameters included mean IOP, standard deviation of IOP, max difference and area under the circadian IOP curve. Comprehensive ophthalmologic examinations were also performed. Associations between visual field deficits and IOP fluctuation parameters were investigated via partial least squares (PLS) regression. Diagnostic performance was evaluated with area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC). Results Compared with healthy volunteers, the MAPE values in POAG patients were higher (4.16 +/- 1.90 versus 2.45 +/- 0.89,p < 0.01). In PLS regressions where visual field deficits were as dependent variable, MAPE had the highest score regarding variable importance in projection, and its standard regression coefficient was larger than other parameters. Diagnostic performance analysis showed the area under ROC of MAPE for glaucoma detection was 0.822 (0.768-0.868,p < 0.001). Conclusions MAPE might be an effective parameter in clinic to characterise IOP circadian fluctuations.