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  • SD-OCT Assessment of the Vitreomacular Interface in Adults

    By Lynda Seminara
    Selected By: Andrew P. Schachat, MD
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    Journal Highlights

    Ophthalmology Retina, August 2020

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    Quinn et al. evaluated the ability of spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) to assess the prevalence of vitreomacular interface (VMI) features and risk factors in a representative sample of adults from Northern Ireland. In addition to observing a link between VMI inter­actions and age, they found a greater reduction in vitreous separation in the horizontal than in the vertical merid­ians, which differs from findings in other ethnic groups.

    Geographically stratified participants aged 40 years and older were enrolled in the authors’ multidisciplinary cross-sectional Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Ageing. For the study, which was conducted from December 2013 to April 2018, patients underwent multimodal testing, including SD-OCT for vitreomacular traction (VMT), macular hole (MH), and epiretinal membrane (ERM). All were graded according to International Vitreomacular Traction Study Group definitions. A subset of participants was evaluated further to estimate the preva­lence, size, and location of vitreomacu­lar adhesion (VMA).

    Descriptive analysis and risk factors were determined for each VMI feature, and results were standardized to the 2011 Northern Ireland census pop­ulation. The primary outcomes were cohort profile, standardized prevalence, and risk factor associations for each VMI feature, all weighted by age and gender.

    In all, 3,351 participants (mean age, 62 years) had gradable SD-OCT images for at least one eye. VMT was found in 30 eyes, MH in 23 eyes, and ERM in 503 eyes. The subgroup analysis showed a weighted VMA prevalence of 22.6%, with VMA area ranging from 0.25 to 42.7 mm2 (mean, 12.53 mm2). In multivariate analyses, older age was linked to higher odds of VMT, MH, and ERM; larger VMA area correlated with younger age and normal blood pressure. ERM and MH also were asso­ciated with worse myopia and elevated lipid and triglyceride levels.

    These findings indicate that VMI interactions throughout life are age dependent. The authors recommend further longitudinal study of VMI changes to track and understand their evolution.

    The original article can be found here.