RESEARCH ARTICLE
Repeatability and Reproducibility of Macular Thickness Measurements Using Fourier Domain Optical Coherence Tomography
Alison Bruce1, Ian E Pacey1, Poonam Dharni1, Andy J Scally2, Brendan T Barrett*, 1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2009Volume: 3
First Page: 10
Last Page: 14
Publisher ID: TOOPHTJ-3-10
DOI: 10.2174/1874364100903010010
Article History:
Received Date: 26/1/2009Revision Received Date: 5/3/2009
Acceptance Date: 18/3/2009
Electronic publication date: 20/4/2009
Collection year: 2009
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Aim: To evaluate repeatability and reproducibility of macular thickness measurements in visually normal eyes using the Topcon 3D OCT-1000.
Methods: Phase 1 investigated scan repeatability, the effect of age and pupil dilation. Two groups (6 younger and 6 older participants) had one eye scanned 5 times pre and post- dilation by 1 operator. Phase 2 investigated between-operator, within and between-visit reproducibility. 10 participants had 1 un-dilated eye scanned 3 times on 2 separate visits by 2 operators.
Results: Phase 1: No significant difference existed between repeat scans ( p = 0.75) and no significant difference was found pre- and post-dilation (p=0.54). In the younger group variation was low (95% limits ± 3.62 µm) and comparable across all retinal regions. The older group demonstrated greater variation (95% limits ± 7.6 µm).
Phase 2: For a given retinal location, 95% confidence limits for within-operator, within-visit reproducibility was 5.16 µm. This value increased to 5.56 µm for the same operator over two visits and to 6.18 µm for two operators over two visits.
Conclusion: A high level repeatability, close to 6 µm, of macular thickness measurement is possible using the 3D OCT- 1000. Measured differences in macular thickness between successive visits that exceed 6 µm in pre-presbyopic individuals are therefore likely to reflect actual structural change. OCT measures are more variable in older individuals and it is advisable to take a series of scans so that outliers can be more easily identified.
