ABSTRACT
This study was performed to evaluate a healthcare strategy based on teleophthalmology for diagnosis and management of primary healthcare users. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to review the medical records of patients from January 2013 to December 2014 from primary care units in the city of São Paulo. The units referred patients, who had diabetes or high blood pressure, and were users of chloroquine compounds, for a fundus examination. The images were sent to a reading center for review, diagnosis, and patient referrals. From 9173 analyzed patients, 570 (6.2%) were excluded because of poor image quality. Of the remaining patients, 4933 (57.3%) had diabetes, 7242 (84,2%) systemic hypertension, and 113 (1.3%) used chloroquine. Of these, 989 (11.5%) patients needed ophthalmologic treatment. The most frequently prescribed treatments were cataract extraction in 692 (70%) of 989 and photocoagulation in 245 (24.8%) of 989 cases. Overall, cataract extraction was indicated in 692 (8%) of 8603 cases and photocoagulation in 245 (2.8%) of 8603 cases. When only patients with diabetes were considered, the indication for photocoagulation increased to 4.5%.The results showed that non-medical professionals could produce good-quality ocular images for screening of ocular diseases in most cases; only 6.2% of ocular images did not meet quality requirements. Most patients referred for fundus examination did not need a specific treatment, indicating that this system could be an inexpensive and reliable tool for use in developing countries.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To compare the visualization of microaneurysms (MA) and the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) versus fluorescein angiography (FA) in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients were prospectively recruited for same-day imaging on spectral-domain OCTA and FA. OCTA images were automatically segmented into superficial (sOCTA) and deep (dOCTA) capillary plexuses. The number of visible MAs and the FAZ area were compared between the two imaging modalities. RESULTS: Nineteen eyes of 10 patients were included. There was a statistically significant difference between MA counts for FA, sOCTA, and dOCTA (P = .002), and median MA counts were 14.5 (range: 2-43), 9.75 (range: 0-37.5), and 22.5 (range: 5.5-46.5), respectively. dOCTA showed significantly more MAs than sOCTA (P < .001). Although not significant statistically, dOCTA revealed more MAs than FA (P = .06). There was a statistically significant difference between FAZ area for FA, sOCTA, and dOCTA (P = .046), and median FAZ areas were 0.444 (range: 0.1-0.689), 0.224 (range: 0.335-0.806), and 0.345 (range: 0.106-0.881), respectively. FA showed a significantly larger FAZ area than sOCTA (P = .04). CONCLUSIONS: Deep plexus OCTA can better identify microaneurysms compared to either sOCTA or FA. The FAZ area appears larger on FA in contrast to OCTA of both plexuses. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2016;47:1013-1019.].
