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[Reliability of retinal imaging screening in retinopathy of prematurity]
C Navarro-Blanco1, J Peralta-Calvo2, N Pastora-Salvador2
1Grupo de Neuro-Computación y Neuro-Robótica, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, España; Departamento de Oftalmología, Clínica Rementería, Madrid, España.
Insights
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening using RetCam 3 wide-angle imaging is reliable when performed by expert ophthalmologists. This method aids in preventing childhood blindness in premature infants.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Neonatal care
- Medical imaging
Context:
- Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a leading cause of preventable childhood blindness.
- Advances in neonatal intensive care have increased survival rates for extremely premature infants, who are at higher risk for ROP.
- Accurate and timely ROP screening is crucial for early intervention and vision preservation.
Purpose:
- To evaluate the diagnostic reliability of retinography using the RetCam 3 wide-angle camera for ROP screening.
- To assess the inter-observer variability in ROP diagnosis based on digital retinal images.
- To compare the diagnostic accuracy of ROP-expert ophthalmologists versus other specialists using RetCam 3 imaging.
Summary:
- Retinal images captured by the RetCam 3 wide-angle camera were analyzed by three groups of masked evaluators: ophthalmologists, vision experts, and ROP-expert ophthalmologists.
- Diagnostic performance metrics, including sensitivity and Kappa values, were assessed for ROP Type 1 and ROP Type 1+Type 2 diagnoses.
- Group C, consisting of ROP-expert ophthalmologists, demonstrated statistically significant results for ROP Type 1 and ROP Type 1+Type 2 diagnoses, indicating high reliability.
Impact:
- The RetCam 3 wide-angle camera, when utilized by ROP-expert ophthalmologists, proves to be a dependable tool for ROP screening.
- This technology has the potential to improve the accuracy and efficiency of ROP diagnosis, thereby reducing the incidence of preventable blindness in premature infants.
- Standardizing ROP screening protocols with advanced imaging technologies can enhance patient outcomes and reduce long-term healthcare burdens.
Introduction:
The retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a potentially avoidable cause of blindness in children. The advances in neonatal care make the survival of extremely premature infants, who show a greater incidence of the disease, possible. The aim of the study is to evaluate the reliability of ROP screening using retinography imaging with the RetCam 3 wide-angle camera and also study the variability of ROP diagnosis depending on the evaluator.
Material And Methods:
The indirect ophthalmoscopy exam was performed by a Pediatric ROP-Expert Ophthalmologist. The same ophthalmologist and a technician specialized in digital image capture took retinal images using the RetCam 3 wide-angle camera. A total of 30 image sets were analyzed by 3 masked groups: group A (8 ophthalmologists), group B (5 experts in vision), and group C (2 ROP-expert ophthalmologists).
Results:
According to the diagnosis using indirect ophthalmoscopy, the sensitivity (26-93), Kappa (0.24-0.80), and the percent agreement were statistically significant in group C for the diagnosis of ROP Type 1. In the diagnosis of ROP Type 1+Type 2, Kappa (0.17-0.33) and the percent agreement (58-90) were statistically significant, with higher values in group C.
Conclusion:
The diagnosis, carried out by ROP-expert ophthalmologists, using the wide-angle camera RetCam 3 has proved to be a reliable method.
