Uniform grading method of focal arterial narrowing needed, study finds

LA JOLLA, Calif. — A uniform grading method for focal arterial narrowing could help to more consistently identify glaucoma suspects using optic disc photographs, researchers here said. They found significant discrepancies in the number of eyes with focal arteriolar narrowing using two grading methods in a study.

The prevalence of arteriolar narrowing is highly dependent upon the grading method, said the researchers here at the University of California at San Diego.

Stereoscopic optic disc photographs of 48 normal subjects, 20 patients with ocular hypertension and 29 patients with glaucoma were reviewed by masked graders. Focal arteriolar narrowing within one disc diameter from rim edge was identified using two grading methods: Narrowing was considered present if the arteriole was wider distal to the narrowing; or narrowing was considered present if the arteriole was wider both distal and proximal to the narrowing. The number of eyes identified with focal arteriolar narrowing was significantly more frequent with the first method than with the second across all photographs and all subgroups.

The study is published in Graefe’s Archive of Clinical and Investigative Ophthalmology.