Relationship between ultra-widefield optical coherence tomography and ophthalmoscopy for detecting posterior inflammation in posterior uveitis and panuveitis

PLoS One. 2023 Feb 10;18(2):e0281714. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281714. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Purpose: To confirm the utility of ultra-widefield optical coherence tomography (W-OCT) for diagnosing uveitis.

Method: We retrospectively studied patients who had been diagnosed with uveitis and had undergone W-OCT. All patients had visited at Osaka Metropolitan University between January 2019 and January 2022. On W-OCT, vitreous opacity ("W-OCT VO") and the presence of vitreous cells ("W-OCT Cells") were identified by three specialists. We compared findings from ophthalmoscopy ("Ophthalmoscopic findings") and fluorescein angiography ("FAG findings") with those from W-OCT.

Results: This study investigated 132 eyes from 68 patients (34 males, 34 females; mean age, 53.97±22.71 years). Vitreous cells in posterior uveitis and panuveitis differed significantly between "W-OCT Cells" and "Ophthalmoscopic findings" for all cases (P = 0.00014). Vitreous opacities in posterior uveitis and panuveitis did not differ significantly between "W-OCT VO" and "Ophthalmoscopic findings" (P = 0.144) for all cases. Compared to "Ophthalmoscopic findings", "W-OCT Cells" offered 51.1% sensitivity and 66.7% specificity for all cases (p<0.01). Compared to "Ophthalmoscopic findings", "W-OCT VO" offered 78.6% sensitivity and 30% specificity for all cases (p = 0.19). In addition, "W-OCT Cells" did not differ significantly from "FAG findings" for all cases (P = 0.424).

Conclusion: W-OCT was shown to offer significantly greater sensitivity than ophthalmoscopy for detecting vitreous cells. The results of this study may add an option for the evaluation of uveitis.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Female
  • Fluorescein Angiography / methods
  • Humans
  • Inflammation
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Ophthalmoscopy
  • Panuveitis* / diagnostic imaging
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Tomography, Optical Coherence / methods
  • Uveitis* / diagnostic imaging
  • Uveitis, Posterior* / diagnostic imaging
  • Vitreous Body / diagnostic imaging

Grants and funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.