Comparison of Nonmydriatic Digital Retinal Imaging versus Dilated Ophthalmic Examination for Nondiabetic Eye Disease in Persons with Diabetes
Presented at: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting, April, 2004; Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Received 22 June 2005; accepted 13 December 2005.
Objective
To evaluate the ability of stereoscopic nonmydriatic digital retinal imaging to detect ocular pathologic features other than diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) compared with dilated retinal examination by retinal specialist ophthalmologists.
Design
Clinic-based comparative instrument study and retrospective chart review.
Participants
Two hundred eighty Joslin Diabetes Center outpatients (560 eyes) with type 1 or type 2 DM.
Methods
Nonsimultaneous stereoscopic nonmydriatic digital retinal images (640 × 480 pixels) of three 45° retinal fields were acquired and graded for clinical level of DR and other ocular pathologic features by certified readers according to Joslin Vision Network (JVN) protocol. Retrospective chart review compared findings from JVN digital images with findings from dilated retinal examination by retinal specialists performed within an average of 39.6 days of digital imaging. An independent senior retinal specialist adjudicated disagreements by review of 7 standard field 35-mm Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study protocol fundus photographs and JVN images.
Main Outcome Measures
Detection of non-DR ocular pathologic features by digital imaging as compared with clinical examination.
Results
Nonmydriatic digital evaluation identified at least 1 non-DR ocular finding in 40.7% of patients (114/280). Non–diabetes mellitus ocular pathologic features identified by digital images, clinical examination, or both included cataract (n = 100); age-related maculopathy (n = 52); suspicion of glaucoma (n = 18); choroidal lesions (n = 18); evidence of systemic disorder (e.g., hypertension or renal disease; n = 15); epiretinal membrane (n = 11); chorioretinal atrophy, scar, or both (n = 6); retinal emboli (n = 3); retinitis pigmentosa (n = 1); and asteroid hyalosis (n = 1). Agreement of nonmydriatic imaging with clinical examination for presence and absence of these findings was 95.4%, 91.3%, 98.2%, 98.6%, 98.2%, 99.6%, 100%, 100%, 100%, and 100%, respectively. κ Values for all non-DR lesions demonstrated near perfect agreement (κ≥0.80) except for age-related maculopathy (κ = 0.71) and choroidal lesions (κ = 0.73), where agreement was substantial. Overall, only 55 eyes (9.8%) were ungradable for level of DR and 85 eyes (15.2%) were ungradable for macular edema.
Conclusions
Joslin Vision Network nonmydriatic digital imaging demonstrated excellent agreement with dilated ophthalmic examination by retinal specialists in the detection of ocular disease other than DR, suggesting a potential role for this technology in evaluating non-DR disorders and highlighting the extent of findings other than retinopathy in patients with diabetes.
1Beetham Eye Institute, Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston, Massachusetts
2Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
3Section of Eye Research, Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston, Massachusetts
4Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Correspondence to Lloyd M. Aiello, MD, Beetham Eye Institute, Joslin Diabetes Center, 1 Joslin Place, Boston, MA 02215
Manuscript no. 2005-559.
Supported in part by a contract sponsored by the Department of the Army by means of Cooperative Agreement DAMD 17-03-2-0062 for the Joslin/Department of Defense/Veterans Administration Program. The content of the information within this program does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the government, and no official endorsement should be inferred.
ABSTRACT