Retinal thickness with HD-OCT is not a surrogate outcome for visual acuity changes in diabetic macular edema

Sandrina Nunes (1) , Ivânia Pereira (1) , Ana Santos (1) , Rui Bernardes (1) , José Cunha-Vaz (1)

1 AIBILI - Association for Innovation and Biomedical Research on Light and Image

Aims: To investigate the correlation between increased retinal thickness (RT) measured with spectral domain high-definition OCT (Cirrus HD-OCT) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in eyes with clinically significant macular edema (CSME) and type-2 diabetes. Methods: Seventy CSME eyes were included in this observational study. Sixty-two eyes were considered for analysis and were classified as having/not having retinal thickening in the central fovea (central 500-µm in diameter circle) by Cirrus HD-OCT. RT measurements were computed and correlated with BCVA. For comparison purposes the Stratus OCT central point thickness was also obtained in these eyes. Results: In the 19 CMSE eyes identified by Cirrus HD-OCT without increased RT in the central fovea (500-µm in diameter circle) no correlation was found between RT and BCVA (R=+0.062; 95%CI=[-0.404;+0.502]). In the 43 eyes where the Cirrus HD-OCT identified an increased RT in the central fovea (central 500-µm in diameter circle) only a moderate correlation between RT and BCVA was found (R=-0.459; 95%CI=[-0.667;-0.184]). Conclusion: Correlations between RT and BCVA in CSME are only present when the central 500-µm in diameter circle is involved. However, even in this circumstance, in only 48.8% of the cases a correlation was found. RT cannot, therefore, be used as a surrogate outcome for visual acuity changes.

Mots clés: Retina; Macula; Imaging; Diagnostic tests/Investigation

Sandrina Nunes, Ivânia Pereira, Ana Santos, Rui Bernardes, José Cunha-Vaz. Retinal thickness with HD-OCT is not a surrogate outcome for visual acuity changes in diabetic macular edema. British Journal of Ophthalmology, 2010, 94 (9), pp.1201. ⟨10.1136/bjo.2009.165662⟩. ⟨hal-00557329⟩