VISUALIZATION OF MACULAR PUCKER BY MULTICOLOR SCANNING LASER IMAGING.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the visualization of the epiretinal membrane (ERM) using multicolor imaging (MCI) (Heidelberg Engineering, Carlsbad, CA) and conventional white light flood color fundus photography (FP) (Topcon).


METHODS
The paired images of patients with ERM who underwent same-day MCI and FP examinations were reviewed. Visibility of the ERM was graded using a scale (0: not visible, 1: barely visible, and 2: clearly visible) by masked readers, and surface folds were counted to quantify the membrane visibility for each method. Images from individual color channels in MCI (green, blue, and infrared) were also graded using the same method to further investigate MCI images.


RESULTS
Forty-eight eyes of 42 patients were included. The average ERM visibility score was 1.8 ± 0.37 for MCI and 1.01 ± 0.63 for FP (P < 0.001). The number of the surface folds detected per quadrant was signifi8cantly higher in MCI than that in FP (6.79 ± 3.32 vs. 2.85 ± 2.81, P < 0.001). The ERM was graded with similar scores on the two modalities in 43.8% of the eyes; in 56.2%, the ERM was better visualized on MCI than that on FP. Conventional FP failed to detect ERM in 11.4% of eyes when the mean central retinal thickness was <413 microns. Analysis of laser color reflectance revealed that green reflectance provided better detection of surface folds (5.54 ± 2.12) compared to blue reflectance (4.2 ± 2.34) and infrared reflectance (1.2 ± 0.9).


CONCLUSIONS
Multicolor scanning laser imaging provides superior ERM detection and delineation of surface folds than conventional FP, primarily due to the green channel present in the combination-pseudocolor image in MCI.
Department of Ophthalmology, Jacobs Retina Center, Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
Ilkay
I
Kilic Muftuoglu
Department of Ophthalmology, Jacobs Retina Center, Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
Dirk-Uwe
DU
Bartsch
Department of Ophthalmology, Jacobs Retina Center, Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.|Genentech Inc, South San Francisco, California.
Giulio
G
Barteselli
Department of Ophthalmology, Jacobs Retina Center, Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
Raouf
R
Gaber
Department of Ophthalmology, Jacobs Retina Center, Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
Joseph
J
Nezgoda
Department of Ophthalmology, Jacobs Retina Center, Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
William R
WR
Freeman
D000368:Aged; D019773:Epiretinal Membrane / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005654:Fundus Oculi; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D008266:Macula Lutea / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009887:Ophthalmoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D010781:Photography / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*