FA and OCT work best in combination

Although fluorescein angiography (FA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) are both effective ways to detect macular oedema (ME), when used in isolation they may miss subtle manifestations of the condition, according to a study published in the April 2008 issue of Retina.

Igor Kozák, MD of the Jacobs Retina Center, University of California San Diego, US and colleagues conducted a 12-month retrospective single-centre study of 1272 eyes undergoing simultaneous FA and OCT to diagnose ME.

The team found that, in 94.97% of cases (n=1208), a diagnosis of ME was confirmed by both techniques. In 3.86% of cases (n=49), FA indicated ME while OCT indicated a normal result; OCT indicated ME where FA indicated normal results in 1.17% of eyes (n=15).

Thus the researchers concluded that FA and OCT, whilst both highly sensitive and effective techniques, have a very small percentage of discrepancies when detecting ME.