CLINICAL UTILITY OF MORPHOFUNCTIONAL CORRELATION OF MICROPERIMETRY AND OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY

To demonstrate the clinical and research value of a simplified technique enabling alignment of functional microperimetry data with retinal structure imaged by eye-tracked optical coherence tomography (OCT) in eyes with macular disease.

Normal and diseased eyes underwent sequential Spectralis OCT macular raster scans and Macular Integrity Assessment microperimetry using both standard central 10° analysis and custom scan patterns. The microperimetry data were imported into Spectralis research software program, which was automatically registered to the scanning laser ophthalmoscopy near-infrared reflectance image obtained during OCT acquisition. The OCT B-scans were directly correlated with the microperimetry data so that retina sensitivity and retinal microstructure at corresponding points could be evaluated simultaneously.

Seventy eyes of 41 patients (110 studies) aged 22 years to 95 years (mean 63.5 ± 18.0 years) with both normal and pathologic macular changes were included. The mean Macular Integrity Assessment retina sensitivity of all 110 studies was 22.2 ± 4.9 (range: 0.1-30.3). Retinal sensitivity showed good correspondence in structural changes seen on OCT B-scans.

We demonstrate a practical method to align retina sensitivity data to anatomical tomographic findings. This technique provides data not obtainable with standard visual acuity measures.