Reproducibility of optical coherence tomography in multiple sclerosis

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Neurology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a key tool for quantifying retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, primarily used in glaucoma monitoring.
• OCT is being evaluated as a crucial outcome measure in multiple sclerosis (MS) clinical trials.
• Reproducibility data for OCT in MS clinical settings were previously lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the reproducibility of OCT measurements of mean RNFL thickness.
• To evaluate this reproducibility in both healthy individuals and patients diagnosed with MS.
• To determine the reliability of OCT measurements in undilated eyes.

Main Methods:

• Prospective analysis of 4 healthy controls for interrater, intrarater, and longitudinal reproducibility.
• Cross-sectional analysis involving 396 patients with MS and 153 healthy controls.
• Data collected from multiple sclerosis clinics across 3 academic medical centers.

Main Results:

• Excellent agreement was observed for interrater (ICC, 0.89), intrarater (ICC, 0.98), and intervisit (ICC, 0.91) reproducibility.
• Mean RNFL thickness showed no significant variation among research centers for MS patients (90-93 microm) or healthy controls (103-105 microm).

Conclusions:

• Mean RNFL thickness is reproducibly measurable by trained technicians using the OCT-3 model in MS centers.
• RNFL measurements from MS patients and age-matched controls were consistent across three different research centers.
• OCT demonstrates significant potential as a reliable outcome measure in MS clinical trials.