Elsevier

Ophthalmology

Volume 123, Issue 4, April 2016, Pages 829-840
Ophthalmology

Original article
Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging in 67 321 Adults: Associations with Macular Thickness in the UK Biobank Study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2015.11.009Get rights and content

Purpose

To derive macular thickness measures and their associations by performing rapid, automated segmentation of spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT) images collected and stored as part of the UK Biobank (UKBB) study.

Design

Large, multisite cohort study in the United Kingdom. Analysis of cross-sectional data.

Participants

Adults from the United Kingdom aged 40 to 69 years.

Methods

Participants had nonmydriatic SD OCT (Topcon 3D OCT-1000 Mark II; Topcon GB, Newberry, Berkshire, UK) performed as part of the ocular assessment module. Rapid, remote, automated segmentation of the images was performed using custom optical coherence tomography (OCT) image analysis software (Topcon Advanced Boundary Segmentation [TABS]; Topcon GB) to generate macular thickness values. We excluded people with a history of ocular or systemic disease (diabetes or neurodegenerative diseases) and eyes with reduced vision (<0.1 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) or with low SD OCT signal-to-noise ratio and low segmentation success certainty.

Main Outcome Measures

Macular thickness values across 9 Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) subfields.

Results

The SD OCT scans of 67 321 subjects were available for analysis, with 32 062 people with at least 1 eye meeting the inclusion criteria. There were 17 274 women and 14 788 men, with a mean (standard deviation [SD]) age of 55.2 (8.2) years. The mean (SD) logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution visual acuity was −0.075 (0.087), and the refractive error was −0.071 (+1.91) diopters (D). The mean (SD) central macular thickness (CMT) in the central 1-mm ETDRS subfield was 264.5 (22.9) μm, with 95% confidence limits of 220.8 and 311.5 μm. After adjusting for covariates, CMT was positively correlated with older age, female gender, greater myopia, smoking, body mass index (BMI), and white ethnicity (all P < 0.001). Of note, macular thickness in other subfields was negatively correlated with older age and greater myopia.

Conclusions

We report macular thickness data derived from SD OCT images collected as part of the UKBB study and found novel associations among older age, ethnicity, BMI, smoking, and macular thickness.

Section snippets

Study Population

The UKBB study is a large, multisite, community-based cohort study with the overarching aim of improving the prevention, detection, and treatment of a wide range of serious and life-threatening diseases. The study invited people aged 40 to 69 years to take part. All UK residents aged 40 to 69 years who were registered with the National Health Service and living up to 25 miles from 1 of the 22 study assessment centers were invited to participate. The North West Multi-centre Research Ethics

Results

A total of 67 321 participants had OCT imaging as part of the UKBB study. Of these, 32 062 healthy subjects with good-quality imaging were identified. Figure 1 shows a summary of the numbers of eyes and subjects selected and included. Figure 2 provides examples of excluded scans based on use of scan quality indicators. The mean ± SD age of subjects included in the analysis was 55.2±8.2 years, and 17 275 subjects (53.9%) were women. The demographics of the population included and excluded from

Discussion

The UKBB study provides a unique opportunity to explore determinants of macular morphology and thickness in a large cohort of patients aged 40 to 69 years. There were 67 321 subjects who had SD OCT imaging of the macula performed as part of the UKBB study. The results of remotely accessing the UKBB. fds Topcon 3D OCT-1000 files and applying automated segmentation to derive macular thickness measurements identified scans from 32 062 subjects with good visual acuity that were of high image

References (12)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (0)

∗Supplemental material is available at www.aaojournal.org.

Financial Disclosure(s): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.

P.J.F.: Supported by the Richard Desmond Charitable Trust via Fight for Sight (1956), Special Trustees of Moorfields Eye Hospital (ST 12 09), and Department for Health through an award from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (BRC2_009). The research was supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre based at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, NIHR, or Department of Health. The funding organizations had no role in the design or conduct of this research.

The UKBB was established by the Wellcome Trust Medical Charity, Medical Research Council, Department of Health, Scottish Government, and Northwest Regional Development Agency, and has had funding from the Welsh Assembly Government, British Heart Foundation, and Diabetes UK.

Author Contributions:

Conception and design: Patel, Foster, Keane, Strouthidis, Yang

Data collection: Patel, Grossi, Ko, Reisman, Yang

Analysis and interpretation: Patel, Foster, Grossi, Ko, Lotery, Reisman, Strouthidis, Yang

Obtained funding: Not applicable

Overall responsibility: Patel, Foster, Keane, Ko, Lotery, Peto, Reisman, Strouthidis, Yang

∗

The UKBB Eyes and Vision Consortium is available online at www.aaojournal.org.

View full text
Copyright © 2016 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.