Clinical application of rapid serial Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography for macular imaging

Purpose: To introduce and examine the utility of a retinal imaging technique using high-speed optical coherence tomography (OCT) for creating a more complete retinal structural map to aid in the evaluation of patients with macular pathology. Design: Prospective observational case series. Participants: Five patients with a variety of macular pathologies. Methods: Patients were imaged with a Fourier-domain high-speed high-resolution OCT system built at our institution. A sweeping serial OCT B-scan of the macula was acquired to create a detailed retinal structural map. The data were then used to make individual clinical observations. Results: Rapid serial OCT B-scans produced detailed macular maps for all 5 patients. Diagnoses of imaged patients included macular hole, lamellar macular hole, regressed macular hole or macular microhole, choroidal neovascular membrane (CNV) from age-related macular degeneration, and CNV from presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome. Reconstructed B-scans and C-scans are shown for selected patients to illustrate the additional perspectives gained by obtaining a detailed retinal map. Conclusions: Rapid serial Fourier-domain OCT B-scanning can be used to create a detailed retinal structural map. This technique provides additional information that can be missed on single OCT images and provides an accurate way to image large or complex lesions, and allows B-scan and C-scan reconstructions to be made that provide additional perspectives into retinal structures that may be missed using traditional imaging methods. (c) 2006 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.