Clinical Ophthalmology (May 2021)

OCT Variability Prevents Their Use as Robust Biomarkers in Multiple Sclerosis

  • Para-Prieto M,
  • Martin R,
  • Crespo S,
  • Mena-Garcia L,
  • Valisena A,
  • Cordero L,
  • Gonzalez Fernandez G,
  • Arenillas JF,
  • Tellez N,
  • Pastor JC

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 15
pp. 2025 – 2036

Abstract

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Marta Para-Prieto,1,2 Raul Martin,1,3,4 Sara Crespo,2 Laura Mena-Garcia,1 Andres Valisena,2 Lisandro Cordero,1 Gloria Gonzalez Fernandez,2 Juan F Arenillas,5 Nieves Tellez,5 Jose Carlos Pastor1,2 1Universidad de Valladolid, Instituto Universitario de Oftalmobiología Aplicada (IOBA Eye Institute), Valladolid, 47011, Spain; 2Hospital Clínico Universitario, Department of Ophthalmology, Valladolid, 47005, Spain; 3Universidad de Valladolid, Departamento de Física Teórica, Atómica y Óptica, Valladolid, 47011, Spain; 4Plymouth University, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, Plymouth, UK; 5Hospital Clínico Universitario, Department of Neurology, Valladolid, 47005, SpainCorrespondence: Raul MartinIOBA Eye Institute, University of Valladolid, Paseo de Belen, 17, Valladolid, 47011, SpainTel +34 983 184 848Fax +34 983 184 762Email [email protected]: To evaluate the agreement between the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) and foveal thickness (FT) measurements among three different spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) instruments in a sample of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and a healthy age-matched control group.Methods: An observational cross-sectional study with three groups: healthy subjects and MS patients w/w a previous clinical diagnosis of optic neuritis (ON) was conducted. The pRNFL and FT were measured using three different SD-OCT instruments (OCT PRIMUS 200 and OCT CIRRUS 500 SD-OCT [Carl Zeiss Meditec] and OCT 3D 2000 [Topcon]).Results: Twenty eyes from 10 healthy subjects matched in age with MS patients without a previous history of eye disease and 62 MS eyes from 31 MS patients (29 eyes without history of ON and 33 eyes with history of ON) were enrolled. Healthy subjects and MS patients without ON did not show differences between the pRNFL and FT thickness (P> 0.99) with any of the instruments. However, MS eyes with a previous episode of ON showed thinner pRNFL and FT (P< 0.01). PRIMUS and CIRRUS OCT showed better agreement of the pRNLF and FT in both healthy and MS eyes. However, 3D OCT showed less agreement in the pRNFL measurement with CIRRUS in both healthy and MS eyes.Interpretation: Although OCT is a valuable technology to improve MS patient assessment, differences between devices must be taken into account. It is necessary to create an international group that standardizes the measurement conditions and above all that provides reference bases for normal subjects.Keywords: spectral-domain optical coherence tomography; SD-OCT, multiple sclerosis; MS, retinal nerve fiber layer; RNFL, foveal thickness; FT, variability

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