OCT has limited impact on technology-based eye care services protocols
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The use of OCT during a technology-based eye care services examination did not improve diagnostic accuracy for glaucoma or retinal diseases, according to a study.
“From the results of our trial, it appears that OCT on all patients, regardless of level of suspicion of disease, did not improve the accuracy of the telemedicine reader for diagnosing glaucoma or glaucoma suspects. More studies are necessary to further evaluate the use of OCT in an asymptomatic screening population,” study co-author April Y. Maa, MD, told Healio/OSN.
Researchers conducted a prospective comparison between a technology-based eye care services (TECS) protocol used in the Veterans Affairs health care system with OCT vs. a face-to-face examination. The 256 patients in the study had no known ocular diseases and were undergoing a routine eye examination. Accuracy was calculated by two nonexpert readers after OCT interpretation of the TECS protocol, while face-to-face examination was considered as the gold standard.
When OCT was added to the TECS protocol, there was no statistically significant change in the observed agreement for most diagnostic categories.
Using the TECS protocol with OCT, more patients were diagnosed by the readers for cataracts and with any condition resulting in referrals compared with face-to-face examinations. Diabetic retinopathy had the highest rate of matched diagnoses between face-to-face visits and TECS with OCT protocol.
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