Boundary detection errors on optical coherence tomography images in patients with diabetic retinopathy.
OBJECTIVE
To study the incidence of boundary detection errors produced by optical coherence tomography measurements in patients with diabetic retinopathy.


METHODS
One hundred sixteen eyes with diabetic retinopathy of 64 consecutive patients with diabetes mellitus were included in this retrospective study. The StratusOCT instrument (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA) with the macular thickness map protocol was used for the examinations. After data acquisition, each scan was analyzed using the retinal thickness (single eye) protocol to evaluate whether there was any misdetection of the retinal boundaries.


RESULTS
Boundary detection errors were found in 35.3% of eyes. The majority of artifacts were those caused by hard exudates (41.5%), followed by cystoid macular edema (31.7%) and proliferation (17.0%).


CONCLUSIONS
Occurrence of artifacts with optical coherence tomography measurements in cases of diabetic retinopathy is not a rare phenomenon and verification of quantitative measurements is strongly recommended.
Semmelweis University, Department of Ophthalmology, H-1083 Budapest, Tömö u. 25-29, Hungary.
Miklos
M
Schneider
Andras
A
Seres
Gabor
G
Borgulya
Janos
J
Nemeth
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016477:Artifacts; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult