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Study: Imaging devices may outperform clinicians in optic disc classification
Ophthalmol. 2009;doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2009.09.026.
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A study of the glaucoma diagnostic accuracy of European ophthalmologists found that while physicians were effective at detecting the disease, imaging devices often classified optic discs more accurately than clinicians.
"In general, ophthalmologists classify optic disc photographs moderately well for detecting glaucoma," the study authors said. "There is, however, large variability in diagnostic accuracy among and agreement within clinicians. Common imaging devices outperform most clinicians in classifying optic discs."
They cautioned that imaging devices have limitations that render them best used to "support rather than replace a skilled clinical examination including [optic nerve head] evaluation, perimetry, tonometry and gonioscopy in reaching a diagnosis of glaucoma."
Optic disc photographs were taken with Carl Zeiss Meditec's GDx with variable corneal compensation (GDx-VCC) and Heidelberg Engineering's Retina Tomograph I (HRT).
While ophthalmologists had an overall diagnostic accuracy of 80.5%, the GDx-VCC nerve fiber indicator correctly classified 93.2% of eyes and the HRT correctly classified 89.8%.
The study included 243 of the 875 ophthalmologists from 11 European countries who were invited to participate.
Each participating ophthalmologist classified optic disc photographs of 40 healthy eyes and 48 glaucomatous eyes.