Ultrasonography as good as OCT in accurately detecting posterior vitreous detachment

South Korea: Both ultrasonography (US) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) have more or less the same diagnostic ability in evaluating posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) status, suggests a recent study in the journal Acta Ophthalmologica.

Compared to OCT, the interpretation of US images was more investigator-dependent and showed lower inter-examiner agreement than that of OCT, making the interpretation of the US images more subjective. Addition of peripapillary OCT scan images can improve the diagnostic ability of OCT.

PVD is a very common eye condition characterized by separation of the posterior vitreous cortex (PVC) from the internal limiting membrane of the retina due to weakening of the vitreous cortex/internal limiting membrane adhesion, in conjunction with liquefaction within the vitreous body.

Key findings include:

• The inter-observer agreement on PVD grading based on US was substantial (kappa = 0.628).


• The inter-observer agreement on PVD grading based on OCT was almost perfect (transverse and peripapillary scan, kappa = 0.893; transverse scan only, kappa = 0.923).


• The PVD grading based on transverse and peripapillary OCT perfectly matched the final PVD grading (kappa = 1.00).


• The PVD grading made based on US and transverse scan only showed almost perfect agreement with the final PVD grading (US, kappa = 0.834; transverse scan only, kappa = 0.906).

"The combination of enhanced vitreous imaging (EVI) and peripapillary scan mode OCT could accurately determine the PVD status of patients," concluded the authors.