One-field digital photography inadequate for diabetic retinopathy screening

One-field, nonmydriatic, 45° digital photography is “inadequate” as a screening device for diabetic retinopathy, according to a study.

His-Kung Kuo and colleagues in Taiwan retrospectively analyzed 200 eyes of 100 patients with diabetes who underwent 45°, nonmydriatic digital fundus photography. For each eye, one image was obtained, centered on the mid-fundus between the optic disc and the macula. Patients also underwent standard ocular examinations as a reference base for determining diabetic retinopathy. Sensitivity and specificity of the photographs, as graded by endocrinologists and retinal specialists, were calculated in comparison to the reference method.

The sensitivity of the retinal specialists’ diabetic retinopathy grades was 53.8%, and specificity was 89%. The sensitivity of the endocrinologists’ grades was 45%, and specificity was 75.3%. The false negative rate was 22% for endocrinologists and 21.5% for the retinal specialists.

The study was published in Ophthalmologica.