coherence tomography oct

coherence tomography

laser speckle

contact lenses

retinal detachment

anterior segment

optic disc

age-related macular degeneration

optical coherence tomography

diabetic macular

Archives of Ophthalmology

<h3>Objective</h3> To compare contact lens biomicroscopy with optical coherence tomography(OCT) for the detection of diabetic foveal edema. <h3>Methods</h3> Study participants consisted of a convenient cohort of consecutive patientswith diabetes mellitus seen at the Wilmer Eye Institute's Retinal VascularCenter, Baltimore, Md. Case characteristics were recorded and eyes were examinedby 1 of 4 retina specialists by means of contact lens biomicroscopy. Edemainvolving the center of the macula was assessed as definitely present, questionablypresent, or definitely not present. The OCT testing was performed and interpretedby trained technicians, masked to the physicians' assessment of foveal edema.Agreement between OCT and contact lens examination for the absence or presenceof foveal edema was evaluated. <h3>Results</h3> One hundred seventy-two eyes of 95 patients with diabetes were enrolledin August and September 2002. Foveal thickness was objectively measured byOCT in 170 (99%) of 172 cases. We found excellent agreement between OCT andcontact lens examination for the absence or presence of foveal edema whenOCT thickness was normal (≤200 µm) or moderately to severely increased(&gt;300 µm). However, agreement was poor when foveal thickness was mildlyincreased on OCT (201-300 µm). <h3>Conclusions</h3> Agreement between contact lens examination and OCT for the detectionof diabetic foveal edema is poor when OCT thickening is mild. This suggeststhat contact lens biomicroscopy is relatively insensitive for the detectionof mild foveal thickening apparent on OCT. Additional studies are needed toinvestigate the natural course of cases with mildly increased foveal thicknesson OCT that do not appear thickened clinically.

Detection of Diabetic Foveal Edema