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

Janice Kim; Clara J Men; Kitiya Ratanawongphaibul; Georgia Papadogeorgou; Edem Tsikata; Geulah S Ben-David; Hussein Antar; Linda Yi-Chieh Poon; Madeline Freeman; Elli A Park; Maria A Guzman Aparicio; Johannes F de Boer; Teresa C Chen

doi:10.2147/OPTH.S369807

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

Clin Ophthalmol. 2022 Aug 13:16:2595-2608. doi: 10.2147/OPTH.S369807. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Janice Kim^{1

2

3}, Clara J Men^{2

4}, Kitiya Ratanawongphaibul^{1

2

5}, Georgia Papadogeorgou⁶, 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 Chen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, Glaucoma Service, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.
² Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
³ Department of Ophthalmology, Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
⁴ Shiley Eye Institute at University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
⁵ Center of Excellence in Glaucoma, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University and King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, Thailand.
⁶ Department of Statistics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
⁷ Department of Ophthalmology, Emek Medical Center, Afula, Israel.
⁸ University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
⁹ Department of Ophthalmology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
¹⁰ Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, MA, USA.
¹¹ Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
¹² LaserLaB Amsterdam, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
¹³ Department of Ophthalmology, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Purpose: 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; minimum distance band; optic nerve; optical coherence tomography; reproducibility.

Grants and funding

Teresa C. Chen: National Institutes of Health UL1 RR 025758, Massachusetts Lions Eye Research Fund (New Bedford, Massachusetts), American Glaucoma Society Mid-Career Award (San Francisco, California), and Fidelity Charitable Fund (Harvard University). The funding organizations had no role in the design or conduct of this research.