Abstract
Purpose :
To evaluate the utility of near-infrared imaging (NIR) of the optic disc, obtained as part of routine optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the macula during evaluation in a retina clinic, as a screening to tool to identify eyes with possible glaucomatous optic neuropathy.
Methods :
A series of consecutive patients seen in the retina clinic underwent optic nerve-head OCT with RNFL analysis, in addition to routine macular OCT. The NIR images of the optic disc acquired during the macular OCT were evaluated by two different masked graders (both retina specialists) to determine whether the images were suspicious for glaucomatous optic neuropathy and would warrant further evaluation or referral to a glaucoma specialist. An unmasked glaucoma specialist then evaluated the optic disc RNFL analysis of each eye to determine whether there was a glaucomatous optic nerve damage or a suspicion of glaucomatous optic neuropathy
Results :
Of 216 eyes (108 patients) who had imaging in the retina clinic, 15 % of those eyes were unable to be assessed by the IR image. From the eyes that were able to be assessed, 14% of the images had a discrepancy between the results of the unmasked grader and the masked graders, and 86% of images had a coincidence between the masked and unmasked grader.
Conclusions :
NIR obtained as part of routine OCT of the macula during evaluation in a retina clinic, can serve as a useful screening tool to identify eyes with possible glaucomatous optic neuropathy.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.