Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To compare retinal edema as identified on color fundus photography vs retinal edema assessed with a newly developed retinal thickness map based on the Retinal Thickness Analyzer II (RTA, Talia Technology, Ltd, Lod Indst, Israel). Methods: Forty–four eyes from 22 type I/II diabetic patients (8F/14M), age ranged from 27 to 71 years–old (mean ±SD: 56±12) where submitted to fundus photography and RTA within a 3 weeks time period, and were evaluated on an independent grading center and classified as Eligible, too Mild or too Severe and were considered Eligible based on the following criteria: retinal edema between 1/6 and 1 disk area (DA) located between 500 and 3000 microns from the center of the macula, OR, retinal edema over 1 DA located between 1500 and 3000 microns from the center of the macula. For the objective assessment of retinal edema, a new thickness map was develop based on the RTA. Each of the 60 RTA values were compared to a reference established using an age matched healthy population of 37 eyes. Both the increased and decreased retinal thickness values were expressed with respect to each threshold, respectively, mean + 2SD and mean – 2SD. Results: All eyes were independently classified to the eligibility criteria by RTA and fundus photography. Of the 12 Eligible eyes (fundus photography), none was classified as such by RTA, with 8 being classified as Mild and 4 as Severe. Of the 20 Mild eyes (fundus photography), classification by the RTA included 2 Eligible, 9 Mild and 9 Severe. Of the 12 eyes classified as Severe by fundus photography, 1 was classified Eligible, 2 Mild and 9 Severe by RTA. Conclusions: There was no agreement between RTA and fundus photography criteria on the specific chosen eligibility criteria of perifoveal macular edema. Similarly, poor agreement was found when considering involvement of the central 500 microns (Severe retinal edema).
Keywords: diabetic retinopathy • imaging/image analysis: clinical • imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound)