The study was done to compare UWFI to dilated fundus examination (DFE) for the screening of SCR.
This study included two groups: an adult group 268 eyes and a paediatric group 168 eyes. SCD types included haemoglobin S homozygous (HbSS), haemoglobin S and C (HbSC) and Hb S with β-thalassaemia (HbSß-Thal).
HbSC was associated with the most advanced SCR grades. When compared to the clinical grader, image grader 1 and image grader 2 consistently detected more SCR and higher SCR grades in both adult and paediatric groups. In both groups, image grader 1 and image grader 2 identified twice as many cases of capillary occlusion/anastomosis than clinical grader. To detect the presence of any proliferative SCR, image grader 1 and image grader 2 had a sensitivity of 82%, 71% in the paediatrics group and 90% and 72% in the adult group. The clinical grader sensitivity was 52% in the paediatrics group and 53% in the adult group.
The study concluded that the UWFI is a sensitive tool to screen for SCR. It is superior to DFE in detecting capillary occlusion or anastomosis.
Reference: https://bjo.bmj.com/content/early/2020/08/18/bjophthalmol-2020-316779
