Reproducibility of Neuroretinal Rim Measurements Obtained from High-Density Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Volume Scans

Abstract

Janice Kim,1– 3 Clara J Men,2,4 Kitiya Ratanawongphaibul,1,2,5 Georgia Papadogeorgou,6 Edem Tsikata,1,2 Geulah S Ben-David,1,2,7 Hussein Antar,1,8 Linda Yi-Chieh Poon,1,9 Madeline Freeman,1,10 Elli A Park,1,11 Maria A Guzman Aparicio,1,2 Johannes F de Boer,12,13 Teresa C Chen1,2 1Department of Ophthalmology, Glaucoma Service, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA; 2Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; 3Department of Ophthalmology, Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA; 4Shiley Eye Institute at University of California, San Diego, CA, USA; 5Center of Excellence in Glaucoma, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University and King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, Thailand; 6Department of Statistics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA; 7Department of Ophthalmology, Emek Medical Center, Afula, Israel; 8University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA; 9Department of Ophthalmology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 10Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, MA, USA; 11Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; 12LaserLaB Amsterdam, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 13Department of Ophthalmology, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsCorrespondence: Teresa C Chen, Department of Ophthalmology, Glaucoma Service, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA, Tel [phone], Fax [phone], Email [email protected]: To compare the reproducibility of two-dimensional (2D) peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and three-dimensional (3D) neuroretinal rim measurements using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) in normal and glaucoma subjects.Methods: One eye per subject for 27 normal and 40 glaucoma subjects underwent repeat SDOCT RNFL thickness scans and optic nerve volume scans on the same day. From the volume scan, custom software calculated five neuroretinal rim parameters: 3D minimum distance band (MDB) thickness, 3D MDB area, 3D rim volume, 2D rim area, and 2D rim thickness. Within-subject variance (Sw), coefficient of variation (CV), and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were analyzed.Results: MDB thickness and RNFL thickness have similar reproducibility among normal and glaucoma subjects (eg, global MDB thickness CVs of 2.4% and 3.6%, and global RNFL thickness CVs of 1.3% and 2.2%; P > 0.05 for both comparisons). Reproducibility of MDB thickness was lower in glaucoma patients for the superior and inferior quadrants compared to normal subjects (CVs of 9.6% versus 3.4% and 6.9% versus 2.7%; P < 0.05, respectively). There were no statistically significant differences between both groups for RNFL thickness in the four quadrants. For both patient groups and for all regions, MDB thickness had the lowest CVs among all five neuroretinal rim parameters (eg, global MDB thickness CVs of 2.4% and 3.6% versus 3.0% and 18.9% for the other four neuroretinal rim parameters).Conclusion: Global MDB and global RNFL thickness are similarly reproducible among normal and glaucoma subjects, though MDB thickness for the superior and inferior quadrants is less reproducible among glaucoma subjects.Keywords: glaucoma, optical coherence tomography, reproducibility, optic nerve, minimum distance band

Keywords

• glaucoma
• optical coherence tomography
• reproducibility
• optic nerve
• minimum distance band