Interexaminer Reproducibility of Optical Coherence Tomography for Measuring the Tear Film Meniscus

• Published in: Current eye research 2014-12, Vol.39 (12), p.1145-1150
• Main Authors: Canan, Handan, Altan-Yaycioglu, Rana, Ulas, Burak, Sizmaz, Selcuk, Coban-Karatas, Muge
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; Dry eye syndromes; Dry Eye Syndromes - diagnosis; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Observer Variation; optical coherence tomography; optical imaging; Prospective Studies; Reproducibility of Results; tear meniscus; tears; Tears - chemistry; Tomography, Optical Coherence
• ISSN: 0271-3683; 1460-2202
• DOI: 10.3109/02713683.2014.898311

Abstract Purpose: New optical coherence tomography (OCT) devices with anterior segment module are able to measure the tear meniscus height (TMH) and tear meniscus area (TMA). Since the borders of the area and the height are to be marked by an examiner, the measurements are prone to be subjective. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the interexaminer reproducibility of the tear meniscus measurements with OCT. Materials and Methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study, both eyes of 300 consecutive patients with and without dry eye were studied. Following routine ophthalmologic examination, tear-film OCT images were obtained. Two examiners, who were unaware of the other examiner's results, measured the TMH (i.e. the line connecting the intersection of the meniscus with the cornea/sclera and eyelid) and cross-sectional TMA. The reliability and correlation of the two examiners' results were assessed. Results: Four right and six left eyes were excluded from the final analysis, so a total of 590 eyes were evaluated. The mean difference of the two examiners' measurements of both eyes was −0.001 ± 0.027 mm2 in TMA, and −21.29 ± 39.95 μm in TMH. An agreement between the two examiners was found regarding TMA and TMH measurements for right and left, as well as both eyes (Cronbach's alpha > 0.900, for all). Also, the correlation between both variables was high (inter item correlation matrix > 0.840, for all). Conclusions: We showed a strong statistical agreement for both TMA and TMH measurements. According to our results, we believe that FD-OCT device is dependable in measuring the TMA and TMH values, given that its results are reproducible.