Clinical biomicroscopy versus fluorescein angiography: effectiveness and sensitivity in detecting diabetic retinopathy.
OBJECTIVE
To compare diagnostic effectiveness and sensitivity of the two methods of screening for diabetic retinopathy.


METHODS
Prospective analytic study comparing diabetic retinopathy grading obtained from clinical slit lamp biomicroscopy and fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA). A total of 189 consecutive patients were examined in the ophthalmology department at Jordan University Hospital.


RESULTS
A total of 376 eyes were reviewed by consultant ophthalmologist for diabetic retinopathy grading on FFA. The sensitivity of ophthalmoscopy in diagnosing diabetic retinopathy grading was 91.2%, with a specificity of 97.9%. The degree of agreement kappa was 0.87.


CONCLUSIONS
Slit-lamp biomicroscopy is highly sensitive for screening diabetic retinopathy grading in diabetic patients and ophthalmologists do not need to confirm a suspected clinical diagnosis of proliferative diabetic retinopathy using FFA as ophthalmoscopy proved to be comparable to angiography.
Khalaf
S S
SS
Jordan University Hospital, Amman, Jordan. skhalaf1@yahoo.com
Al-Bdour
M D
MD
Al-Till
M I
MI
D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000175:diagnosis; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D005654:Fundus Oculi; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009887:Ophthalmoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity