Specification of progression in glaucomatous visual field loss, applying locally condensed stimulus arrangements

The goal of this work was to (i) determine patterns of progression in glaucomatous visual field loss, (ii) compare the detection rate of progression between locally condensed stimulus arrangements and conventional 6° × 6° grid, and (iii) assess the individual frequency distribution of test locations exhibiting a local event (i.e., an abrupt local deterioration of differential luminance sensitivity (DLS) by more than -10dB between any two examinations). The visual function of 41 glaucomatous eyes of 41 patients (16 females, 25 males, 37 to 75 years old) was examined with automated static perimetry (Tuebingen Computer Campimeter or Octopus 101-Perimeter). Stimuli were added to locally enhance the spatial resolution in suspicious regions of the visual field. The minimum follow-up was four subsequent sessions with a minimum of 2-month (median 6-month) intervals between each session. Progression was identified using a modified pointwise linear regression (PLR) method and a modified Katz criterion. The presence of events was assessed in all progressive visual fields. Eleven eyes (27%) showed progression over the study period (median 2.5 years, range 1.3–8.6 years). Six (55%) of these had combined progression in depth and size and five eyes (45%) progressed in depth only. Progression in size conformed always to the nerve fiber course. Seven out of 11 (64%) of the progressive scotomata detected by spatially condensed grids would have been missed by the conventional 6° × 6° grid. At least one event occurred in 64% of all progressive eyes. Five of 11 (46%) progressive eyes showed a cluster of events. The most common pattern of progression in glaucomatous visual fields is combined progression in depth and size of an existing scotoma. Applying individually condensed test grids remarkably enhances the detection rate of glaucomatous visual field deterioration (at the expense of an increased examination time) compared to conventional stimulus arrangements

Updated Guidance Regarding The Risk ofAllergic Reactions to COVID-19 Vaccines and Recommended Evaluation and Management: A GRADE Assessment, and International Consensus Approach

This guidance updates 2021 GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) recommendations regarding immediate allergic reactions following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines and addresses revaccinating individuals with first-dose allergic reactions and allergy testing to determine revaccination outcomes. Recent meta-analyses assessed the incidence of severe allergic reactions to initial COVID-19 vaccination, risk of mRNA-COVID-19 revaccination after an initial reaction, and diagnostic accuracy of COVID-19 vaccine and vaccine excipient testing in predicting reactions. GRADE methods informed rating the certainty of evidence and strength of recommendations. A modified Delphi panel consisting of experts in allergy, anaphylaxis, vaccinology, infectious diseases, emergency medicine, and primary care from Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States formed the recommendations. We recommend vaccination for persons without COVID-19 vaccine excipient allergy and revaccination after a prior immediate allergic reaction. We suggest against \u3e 15-minute postvaccination observation. We recommend against mRNA vaccine or excipient skin testing to predict outcomes. We suggest revaccination of persons with an immediate allergic reaction to the mRNA vaccine or excipients be performed by a person with vaccine allergy expertise in a properly equipped setting. We suggest against premedication, split-dosing, or special precautions because of a comorbid allergic history

The Effects of Study Design and Spectrum Bias on the Evaluation of Diagnostic Accuracy of Confocal Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy in Glaucoma

PURPOSE. To assess the effects of study design and spectrum bias on the evaluation of diagnostic accuracy of confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (CSLO) in glaucoma. METHODS. Analysis 1 included 67 eyes with glaucomatous visual field loss and 56 eyes of normal volunteers. Estimates of diagnostic accuracy in this analysis were compared to those obtained from analysis 2, which included a cohort of patients with suspected glaucoma, but without visual field loss at the time of CSLO imaging. For analysis 2, 40 eyes with progressive glaucomatous optic disc change were included in the glaucoma group and 43 eyes without any evidence of progressive damage to the optic nerve that were observed untreated for an average time of 9.01 Ϯ 3.09 years were included in the normal group. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves (AUC) were used to evaluate diagnostic accuracy of CSLO parameters. RESULTS. There was a statistically significant difference between the performance of the parameter with largest AUC, discriminant function Bathija, in analysis 1 (AUC ϭ 0.91) compared with its performance in analysis 2 (AUC ϭ 0.71; P ϭ 0.002). For the contour-line-independent parameter glaucoma probability score, a statistically significant difference was also observed in the performance obtained in analysis 1 (AUC ϭ 0.89) compared with analysis 2 (AUC ϭ 0.65; P Ͻ 0.001). CONCLUSIONS. Estimates of diagnostic accuracy of CSLO in glaucoma can be largely different depending on the population studied and the reference standard used to define disease. Diagnostic accuracy estimates obtained from case-control studies including well-defined groups of subjects with or without disease may not be applicable to the clinically relevant population. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2007;48:214 -222

A Statistical Approach to the Evaluation of Covariate Effects on the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves of Diagnostic Tests in Glaucoma

PURPOSE. To describe an approach for the evaluation of covariate effects on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and to apply this methodology to the investigation of the effects of disease severity and age on the diagnostic performance of frequency doubling technology (FDT) and standard automated perimetry (SAP) visual function tests for glaucoma detection. METHODS. The study included 370 eyes of 211 participants, with 174 eyes of 110 patients having glaucomatous optic neuropathy and 196 eyes of 101 subjects being normal. All patients underwent visual function testing with FDT 24-2 Humphrey Matrix and SAP SITA (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., Dublin, CA). Disease severity was evaluated by the amount of neuroretinal rim loss assessed by confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy. An ROC regression model was fitted to evaluate the influence of disease severity and age on the diagnostic performance of the pattern SD (PSD) index from FDT 24-2 and SAP SITA. RESULTS. After adjustment for age, the areas under the ROC curves (AUCs) for SAP SITA PSD for 10%, 30%, 50%, and 70% loss of neuroretinal rim area were 0.638, 0.756, 0.852, and 0.920, respectively. Corresponding values for FDT 24-2 PSD were 0.766, 0.857, 0.922, and 0.962. For 10% and 30% rim loss, FDT 24-2 PSD had a significantly larger AUC than did SAP SITA PSD. CONCLUSIONS. A regression methodology to evaluate covariate effects on ROC curves can be useful for assessment of diagnostic tests in glaucoma. Using the proposed methodology, a significantly better performance of FDT 24-2 compared to SAP SITA for diagnosis of early glaucoma was demonstrated. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci

Comparison of Different Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Scanning Areas for Glaucoma Diagnosis

Purpose: To evaluate retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), optic nerve head (ONH), and macular thickness measurements for glaucoma detection using the RTVue spectral domain optical coherence tomograph. Design: Diagnostic, case-control study. Participants: One hundred forty eyes of 106 glaucoma patients and 74 eyes of 40 healthy subjects from the Diagnostic Innovations in Glaucoma Study (DIGS). Methods: All patients underwent ocular imaging with the commercially available RTVue. Optic nerve head, RNFL thickness, and macular thickness scans were obtained during the same visit. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and sensitivities at fixed specificities (80% and 95%) were calculated for each parameter. Main Outcome Measures: Areas under the ROC curves (AUC) and sensitivities at fixed specificities of 80% and 95%. Results: The AUC for the RNFL parameter with best performance, inferior quadrant thickness, was significantly higher than that of the best-performing ONH parameter, inferior rim area (0.884 vs 0.812, respectively; P = 0.04). There was no difference between ROC curve areas of the best RNFL thickness parameters and the best inner macular thickness measurement, ganglion cell complex root mean square (ROC curve area = 0.870). Conclusions: The RTVue RNFL and inner retinal macular thickness measurements had good ability to detect eyes with glaucomatous visual field loss and performed significantly better than ONH parameters.Heidelberg EngineeringCarl ZeissOptovueTopconWelch AllynNEI[EY08208]NEI[EY11008

Determinants of agreement between the confocal scanning laser tomograph and standardized assessment of glaucomatous progression

Purpose: To estimate the agreement of confocal scanning laser tomograph (CSLT), topographic change analysis (TCA) with assessment of stereophotographs, and standard automated perimetry (SAP) for detecting glaucomatous progression and to identify factors associated with agreement between methods. Design: Observational cohort study. Participants: We included 246 eyes of 167 glaucoma patients, glaucoma suspects, and ocular hypertensives. Methods: We included CSLT series (n \u3c4 tests; mean follow-up, 4 years), stereophotographs, and SAP results in the analysis. The number of progressors by guided progression analysis (GPA, likely progression ), progressors by masked stereophotographs assessment and progressors by TCA as determined for 3 parameters related to the number of progressed superpixels within the disc margin was determined. Agreement between progression by each TCA parameter, stereophotographs and GPA was assessed using the Kappa test. Analysis of variance with post hoc analysis was applied to identify baseline factors including image quality (standard deviation of the mean topography), disc size and disease severity (pattern standard deviation [PSD] and cup area) associated with agreement/nonagreement between methods. Main Outcome Measures: Agreement in assessing glaucomatous progression between the methods including factors associated with agreement/nonagreement between methods. Results: Agreement between progression by TCA and progression by stereophotographs and/or GPA was generally poor regardless of the TCA parameter and specificity cutoffs applied. For the parameters with the strongest agreement, cluster size in disc (CSIZEdisc) and cluster area in disc (CAREAdisc), kappa values were 0.16 (63.9%, agreement on 134 nonprogressing eyes and 23 progressing eyes) and 0.15 (64.1%, agreement on 135 nonprogressing eyes and 22 progressing eyes) at 99% cutoff. Most of the factors evaluated were not significantly associated with agreement/nonagreement between methods (all P\u3e0.07). However, SAP PSD was greater in the progressors by stereophotography only group compared with the progressors by TCA only group (5.8±4.7 and 2.6±2.2, respectively [P = 0.003] for CSIZEdisc at 95% specificity and 5.4±4.6 and 2.5±2.3, respectively [P = 0.002] for CAREA disc at 99% specificity). Conclusions: Agreement for detection of longitudinal changes between TCA, stereophotography, and SAP GPA is poor. Progressors by stereophotography only tended to have more advanced disease at baseline than progressors by TCA only. Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references. © 2010 American Academy of Ophthalmology

Impact of Atypical Retardation Patterns on Detection of Glaucoma Progression using the GDx with Variable Corneal Compensation

PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of atypical retardation patterns (ARP) on detection of progressive retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) loss using scanning laser polarimetry with variable corneal compensation (VCC). DESIGN: Observational cohort study. METHODS: The study included 377 eyes of 221 patients with a median follow-up of 4.0 years. Images were obtained annually with the GDx VCC (Carl Zeiss Med, itec Inc, Dublin, California, USA), along with optic disc stereophotographs and standard automated perimetry (SAP) visual fields. Progression was determined by the Guided Progression Analysis software for SAP and by masked assessment of stereophotographs by expert graders. The typical scan score (TSS) was used to quantify the presence of ARPs on GDx VCC images. Random coefficients models were used to evaluate the relationship between ARP and RNFL thickness measurements over time. RESULTS: Thirty-eight eyes (10%) showed progression over time on visual fields, stereophotographs, or both. Changes in TSS scores from baseline were significantly associated with changes in RNFL thickness measurements in both progressing and nonprogressing eyes. Each I unit increase in TSS score was associated with a 0.19-mu m decrease in RNFL thickness measurement (P < .001) over time. CONCLUSIONS: ARPs had a significant effect on detection of progressive RNFL loss with the GDx VCC. Eyes with large amounts of atypical patterns, great fluctuations on these patterns over time, or both may show changes in measurements that can appear falsely as glaucomatous progression or can mask true changes in the RNFL. (Am J Ophthalmol 2009;148:155-163. (C) 2009 by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.