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Purpose: To compare conventional 30° spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) with 55° wide-field SD-OCT for the assessment of diabetic macular edema (DME)., Methods: This study included 50 DME patients. Both 55° and 30° SD-OCT was conducted. Two readers evaluated scans according to a standardized grading protocol. Intergrader agreement as well as agreement between 30° and 55° SD-OCT were assessed., Results: Intergrader agreement (κ) was strong and ranged from 0.79 to 1.0. Perfect interdevice agreement (κ = 1.0) was found for the detection of intra- and subretinal fluid. Excellent agreement (κ ≥ 0.9) was found for the presence of epiretinal membrane (κ = 0.92) and cotton-wool spots (κ = 0.92). A strong agreement was found for the presence of hard exudates (κ = 0.89) and microaneurysms (κ = 0.81). A moderate correlation was found for ellipsoid zone integrity (κ = 0.69) and configuration of the vitreomacular interface (VMI) (κ = 0.69). A weak agreement was found for retinal pigment epithelium atrophy (κ = 0.51) and external limiting membrane integrity (κ = 0.35)., Conclusion: Wide-field OCT imaging may be beneficial for evaluating DME, particularly for assessing the VMI and the integrity of hyperreflective bands., (© 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Purpose: To investigate outcomes in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) switched from a pro re nata regimen (PRN) to a treat and extend regimen (TER) under aflibercept., Procedure: Thirty-two patients were observed over 2 years: the first year on PRN and the second year on TER. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central retinal thickness (CRT) were evaluated. Intra- and subretinal fluid as well as the number of visits and injections were assessed., Results: Both regimens resulted in a stable BCVA. Patients in TER had a significant decrease of CRT after 1 year compared to 1 year of treatment on PRN (p < 0.0001). TER resulted in significantly less visits; however, significantly more injections were observed over the course of 1 year compared to PRN (10.25 vs. 7.5, p < 0.0001 and 5.97 vs. 7.5, p = 0.0002, respectively)., Conclusion: A switch from PRN to TER in patients treated with aflibercept for AMD appears to be safe., (© 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Purpose: To describe and follow cotton wool spots (CWS) in branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) using multimodal imaging., Methods: In this prospective cohort study including 24 patients with new-onset BRVO, CWS were described and analyzed in color fundus photography (CF), spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), infrared (IR) and fluorescein angiography (FA) every 3 months for 3 years. The CWS area on SD-OCT and CF was evaluated using OCT-Tool-Kit software: CWS were marked in each single OCT B-scan and the software calculated the area by interpolation., Results: 29 central CWS lesions were found. 100% of these CWS were visible on SD-OCT, 100% on FA and 86.2% on IR imaging, but only 65.5% on CF imaging. CWS were visible for 12.4 ± 7.5 months on SD-OCT, for 4.4 ± 3 months and 4.3 ± 3.4 months on CF and on IR, respectively, and for 17.5 ± 7.1 months on FA. The evaluated CWS area on SD-OCT was larger than on CF (0.26 ± 0.17 mm(2) vs. 0.13 ± 0.1 mm(2), p < 0.0001). The CWS area on SD-OCT and surrounding pathology such as intraretinal cysts, avascular zones and intraretinal hemorrhage were predictive for how long CWS remained visible (r(2) = 0.497, p < 0.002)., Conclusions: The lifetime and presentation of CWS in BRVO seem comparable to other diseases. SD-OCT shows a higher sensitivity for detecting CWS compared to CF. The duration of visibility of CWS varies among different image modalities and depends on the surrounding pathology and the CWS size., (© 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.)