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Ultra-widefield imaging may improve ability to diagnose, monitor, treat diabetic retinopathy
VIENNA — Ultra-widefield retinal imaging is a viable option that may improve the efficiency of diagnostics for diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema, according to one specialist.
Standard methods for assessment and follow-up of DR and DME have included fluorescein angiography, fundus photography and optical coherence tomography. However, novel ultra-widefield (UWF) scanning laser technology (Optos) allows wide-angle visualization that includes peripheral areas of the retina.
“We obtain 200° fields covering 82% of the entire retina with 14-µm resolution. This technology allows us to detect peripheral alterations of the retina that would otherwise go undetected,” Jan Lammer, MD, said at the Advanced Retinal Therapy meeting here.
In a study of 206 eyes of 103 patients, UWF imaging and conventional non-mydriatic fundus photography (NMFP) were compared.
“UWF imaging identified similar rates and severity of DR as NMFP, but also identified additional peripheral lesions in more than 24% of the patients. Peripheral lesions might have suggested a more severe retinopathy severity grading in approximately 10% of the eyes,” Lammer said.
UWF imaging also reduced image evaluation time by 28% and the ungradable rate by 56% and 78% in DME and DR, respectively.
“Diabetic retinopathy was identified 17% more frequently,” Lammer said.
“New imaging protocols and updated classifications for diabetic retinopathy may need to be evaluated in future studies,” he said.
Disclosure: Lammer has no relevant financial disclosures.