Prevalence and diagnostic ability of β-zone parapapillary atrophy in open-angle glaucoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: β-Zone parapapillary atrophy (β-PPA) is a common sign in patients with open-angle glaucoma (OAG). Some studies have suggested that β-PPA can aid in the diagnosis of OAG. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence and diagnostic ability of β-PPA in OAG. METHODS: We performed a literature search in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and Google Scholar from inception to 1st November, 2021. Both hospital-based and population-based studies that reported details of β-PPA in OAG were included. RESULTS: We screened 1404 articles from these databases and ultimately included 24 articles in our meta-analysis. The prevalence of β-PPA in OAG was 0.73 (95% CI 0.67 to 0.78). The results of subgroup analysis by country revealed prevalence rates of 0.83 (95% CI 0.78 to 0.88) in Japan, 0.85 (95% CI 0.64 to 0.97) in Korea, 0.64 (95% CI 0.55 to 0.73) in the USA, 0.61 (95% CI 0.58 to 0.63) in Germany and 0.57 (95% CI 0.39 to 0.74) in China. Fundus photography, Heidelberg retina tomography (HRT), Heidelberg retina angiography (HRA) + indocyanine green angiography (ICGA), Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT)and Swept source optical coherence tomography(SS-OCT) values were 0.65 (95% CI 0.58 to 0.71), 0.70 (95% CI 0.50 to 0.86), 0.78 (95% CI 0.61 to 0.91), 0.77 (95% CI 0.65 to 0.88) and 0.99(95% CI 0.87 to 1.00) respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of β-PPA as a diagnostic marker were 0.78 (95% CI 0.68 to 0.85) and 0.63 (95% CI 0.51 to 0.73), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: β-PPA is a potential diagnostic marker for OAG. However, a more detailed understanding of β-PPA characteristics is needed to improve the ability to predict OAG. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12886-022-02282-5.