Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 7, 2025

Using Optical Coherence Tomography and Optokinetic Response As Structural and Functional Visual System Readouts in Mice and Rats
Published on: January 10, 2019
APOSTEL 2.0 Recommendations for Reporting Quantitative Optical Coherence Tomography Studies
Aykut Aytulun1, Andrés Cruz-Herranz1, Orhan Aktas1
1From the Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty (A.A., O.A., H.-P.H., O.M., S.M., M.R., P.A.), Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany; Department of Neurology (A.C.-H., A.J.G.), University of California San Francisco; Departments of Neurology, Population Health, and Ophthalmology (L.J.B., R.K.), NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY; Mulier Institute (L.B.), Centre for Research on Sports in Society, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Scientific Institute San Raffaele (P.B.), Milan, Italy; Centre for Public Health (A.A.B.), Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK; Division of Neuroimmunology (P.A.C., S. Saidha), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; Departments of Clinical Neurosciences and Surgery (F.C.), University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Institut d'Investigacións Biomediques August Pi iSunyer (IDIBAPS) and Hospital Clinic (B.S.-D., E.H.M.-L., P.V.), University of Barcelona, Spain; Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (D.C.D.), University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, FL; Department of Ophthalmology (N.F.), University Medical Center, Göttingen; Department of Ophthalmology (R.P.F., F.G.H.), University of Bonn, Germany; Department of Neurology (J.L.F., G.P.-J.), Rigshospitalet Glostrup and University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Laboratory of Neuroimmunology (E.F., T.F.), Stanford University School of Medicine, CA; Institute of Ophthalmology (D.G.-H.), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology (D.G.-H.), London, UK; Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute (I.G.), Barakaldo, Spain; Department of Neurosciences (J.S.G.), University of California, San Diego; Brain and Mind Centre (H.-P.H.), University of Sydney, Australia; Department of Neurology (H.-P.H.), Medical University of Vienna, Austria; Institute of Clinical Neuroimmunology (J.H.), LMU Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, Germany; UConn Health Comprehensive MS Center, Division of Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology, Department of Neurology (J.I.), University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington; Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (A.K.), Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia; Department of Neurology (B.K., T.K.), Klinikum rechts der Isar, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Germany; Department of Medicine and Radiology (S.K.), University of Melbourne, Australia; Department of Neurology with Institute of Translational Neurology (J.K.), University of Münster; Eye Center, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine (W.A.L.), University of Freiburg, Germany; Experimental Neurophysiology Unit (L.L.), Institute of Experimental Neurology (INSPE), IRCCS San Raffaele, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy; Lille Neurosciences & Cognition (O.O.), Univ Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, U1172-LilNCog (JPARC), France; Experimental and Clinical Research Center (F.P., H.G.Z., A.U.B.), Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine and Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Germany; Moorfields Eye Hospital (A.P.), The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK; Neuro-ophthalmology Expert Center (A.P.), Amsterdam UMC, the Netherlands; Department of Neurology, First Faculty of Medicine (J.L.P.), Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Czech Republic; Department of Ophthalmology (G.R.), Ramon y Cajal Hospital, Medicine University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain; Department of Neurology (M.R.), Center for Neurology and Neuropsychiatry, LVR-Klinikum, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany; Department of Neurology (S. Schippling), University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland; Departments of Ophthalmology, Neuroscience, and Physiology (J.S.S.), NYU Langone Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York; Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering (J.S.S.), NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY; Thomas Jefferson University Medical College (R.C.S.), Philadelphia, PA; Queen Square MS Centre, Department of Neuroinflammation (A.T.), UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, UK; Departments of Ophthalmology and Clinical Research (S.W.), Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Switzerland; Division of Neurology, Department of Pediatrics (E.A.Y.), Hospital for Sick Children, Division of Neurosciences and Mental Health SickKids Research Institute, University of Toronto, Canada; Department of Clinical Neurosciences (P.Y.-W.-M.), University of Cambridge; Moorfields Eye Hospital (P.Y.-W.-M.), London, UK; University of California (A.U.B.), Irvine; and IMSVISUAL (A.A., A.C.-H., O.A., L.J.B., L.B., P.A.C., F.C., J.L.F., E.F., T.F., I.G., J.S.G., A.J.G., H.-P.H., J.H., J.I., R.K., A.K., B.K., T.K., J.K., L.L., E.H.M.-L., S.M., O.O., F.P., A.P., G.P.-J., J.L.P., M.R., S. Saidha, S. Schippling, R.C.S., P.V., E.A.Y., H.G.Z., A.U.B., P.A.), International Multiple Sclerosis Visual System Consortium, Middleton, WI.
Objective:
To update the consensus recommendations for reporting of quantitative optical coherence tomography (OCT) study results, thus revising the previously published Advised Protocol for OCT Study Terminology and Elements (APOSTEL) recommendations.
Methods:
To identify studies reporting quantitative OCT results, we performed a PubMed search for the terms "quantitative" and "optical coherence tomography" from 2015 to 2017. Corresponding authors of the identified publications were invited to provide feedback on the initial APOSTEL recommendations via online surveys following the principle of a modified Delphi method. The results were evaluated and discussed by a panel of experts and changes to the initial recommendations were proposed. A final survey was recirculated among the corresponding authors to obtain a majority vote on the proposed changes.
Results:
A total of 116 authors participated in the surveys, resulting in 15 suggestions, of which 12 were finally accepted and incorporated into an updated 9-point checklist. We harmonized the nomenclature of the outer retinal layers, added the exact area of measurement to the description of volume scans, and suggested reporting device-specific features. We advised to address potential bias in manual segmentation or manual correction of segmentation errors. References to specific reporting guidelines and room light conditions were removed. The participants' consensus with the recommendations increased from 80% for the previous APOSTEL version to greater than 90%.
Conclusions:
The modified Delphi method resulted in an expert-led guideline (evidence Class III; Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations [GRADE] criteria) concerning study protocol, acquisition device, acquisition settings, scanning protocol, funduscopic imaging, postacquisition data selection, postacquisition analysis, nomenclature and abbreviations, and statistical approach. It will be essential to update these recommendations to new research and practices regularly.

