Purpose To evaluate the repeatability and reproducibility of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, optic nerve head (ONH) parameters and macular inner retinal layer (MIRL) thickness measurements obtained by RTVue spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) in normal Rhesus monkey eyes.

Method 30 eyes of 15adult male rhesus macaque monkeys were included into the study. RNFL thickness, ONH parameters and MIRL thickness were imaged in three separate visits within a month. Each eye was imaged for three times during the first visit. In the subsequent visits, each eye was imaged for one time. MIRL thickness were provided by EMM5 scan, RNFL thickness and ONH parameters were measured by the RNFL 3.45 mode of the RTVue system. The same instrument was used by the same operator for all scans. Intrasession and intersession within-subject standard deviation (Sw), precision (1.96×Sw), coefficient of variation (CVw, 100×Sw/overall mean), and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were calculated to evaluate repeatability and reproducibility.

Results  For intrasession repeatability, the value of ICC ranged between 0.97 and 1.00 in all ONH parameters. The over mean of the average RNFL thickness was 150.72±6.46 um. The value of ICC for average RNFL thickness was 0.974. For regional parameters, it ranged from 0.72 to 0.98. The temporal regions appeared to be most variable, as temporal lower region and temporal upper region had the ICC values of 0.72 and 0.79. The over mean of the average MIRL thickness was 114.24±6.74 um. The value of ICC for average MIRL thickness was 0.88. For intersession reproducibility, high value of ICC was also observed in ONH measurements, it ranged from 0.96 to 1.00. The over mean of the average RNFL thickness was 105.56±7.94 um. The value of ICC for average RNFL thickness was 0.96. For regional parameters, it ranged from 0.71 to 0.98. The temporal regions also appeared to be most variable, having the ICC values of 0.80 and 0.71 for temporal lower region and temporal upper region. The over mean of the average MIRL thickness was 113.85±5.77 um. The value of ICC for average MIRL thickness was 0.95.

Conclusion Repeatability and reproducibility of RTVue RNFL, ONH and MIRL measurements were good in normal monkey eyes. They were satisfactory for the monkey glaucoma models to be established for studying the pathogenesis and therapy of glaucoma.