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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.
Sec. Ophthalmology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1459636

Assessment of corneal epithelial thickness mapping by spectral-domain OCT

Provisionally accepted
Robert Montés-Micó Robert Montés-Micó 1*Pedro Tañá-Rivero Pedro Tañá-Rivero 2Paz Orts-Vila Paz Orts-Vila 2Pedro Tañá-Sanz Pedro Tañá-Sanz 2María Ramos-Alzamora María Ramos-Alzamora 2
  • 1 University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
  • 2 Oftalvist Clinic, Barcelona, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    To assess corneal epithelial-thickness (ET) mapping resulting from spectral-domain-optical-coherence-tomography (SD-OCT) by analysing its repeatability and reproducibility and its utility for screening corneal-refractive-surgery (CRS) candidates. METHODS: ET was measured in 25-sectors by two-operators. Intra-subject-standarddeviation, coefficient-of-repeatability (CoR) and coefficient-of-variability (CoV) were calculated to evaluate repeatability. Reproducibility was evaluated using a Bland-Altman analysis. Scheimpflug-tomography, refraction, visual acuity, and patient history were used to make a decision on eligibility for CRS. After this decision, the surgeon was shown the patient's ET map and was asked to reconsider his analysis. The percentage of screenings that changed after evaluating the ET maps was determined. RESULTS: 43 eyes with normal corneas (CRS-group) and 21 eyes not suitable for CRS (non-CRS-group) were studied. For the CRS-group, CoR ranged from 2.03 (central) to 19.73μm (outer-inferonasal), with the central-sector showing the highest repeatability (CoV:1.53-1.80%). For the non-CRS-group, CoR ranged from 3.82 (central-middle-superonasal) to 13.42μm (middle-inferotemporal), with the inner-superonasal-sector showing the highest repeatability (CoV:2.86-4.46%). There was no statistically significant difference between operators (P>0.01). In the CRS-group, the outcomes showed a narrow 95% limits-of-agreement (LoA) for the central-and inner-nasal-sectors (about 4μm), and wider for the inner-superior, outer-superotemporal and outer-inferonasal (about 10-14μm). In the non-CRS-group, they were for the outer superonasal (about 4μm), and for the middle-inferotemporal and outer-temporal (about 10μm), respectively. Candidacy for CRS changed in 7.82% of patients after evaluation of the ET maps, with all of them screened-out. CONCLUSIONS: The SD-OCT provided repeatable and reproducible corneal ET measurements and may alter candidacy for CRS.

    Keywords: The study was registered with the German Clinical Trials Register cornea, Epithelial thickness, Optical Coherence Tomography, spectral domain, repeatability, reproducibility

    Received: 04 Jul 2024; Accepted: 03 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Montés-Micó, Tañá-Rivero, Orts-Vila, Tañá-Sanz and Ramos-Alzamora. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Robert Montés-Micó, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.