Comparability analysis of the HNT-1P Huvitz non contact tonometer for the measurement of intraocular pressure.

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic validity of the HNT-1P non-contact tonometer (Huvitz) as a tool for accurately measuring intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with healthy eyes, compared to the Goldmann applanation tonometer (GAT), which is the Gold Standard method for measurement of IOP.

Methods: Observational, descriptive, transversal study using 148 eyes of 74 healthy patients without a diagnosis of glaucoma or other ophthalmological diseases. Three measurements of IOP were taken in each eye, using three tonometers: HNT-1P, ICR100, and GAT. The median IOP (quartiles) and mean IOP (SD) its statistical significance were calculated, and comparisons were made between the mean and median IOP values found in three groups: GAT-HNT, GAT-ICR, and HNT-ICR. The difference in mean and median IOP was analyzed in each of the three study groups, and its statistical significance and concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) were calculated.

Results: The median IOP with HNT-1P was statistically significantly lower than the median IOP with GAT, (1.1 mmHg, p < 0.001). The median IOP with HNT-1P was also lower than the median IOP with ICR100. As an additional result, the median IOP with GAT was lower than the median IOP with ICR. The CCC was moderate for HNT-ICR (0.72) and low for GAT-HNT and GAT-ICR (0.43 and 0.38, respectively).

Conclusions: HNT-1P (Huvitz) provides statistically significantly lower IOP values than those obtained with GAT. HNT-1P could be used for screening of ocular hypertension in postoperative patients. The IOP measurement obtained with HNT-1P should be confirmed with GAT. HNT-1P yields lower IOP values than those obtained with ICR.