Color-code agreement among stratus, cirrus, and spectralis optical coherence tomography in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis with and without prior optic neuritis.

PURPOSE

To evaluate the agreement of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) color codes among Stratus, Cirrus, and Spectralis optical coherence tomography (OCT) in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

DESIGN

Prospective cohort study.

METHODS

In 140 eyes from 70 patients having relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis from January 2011 to September 2011, peripapillary RNFL thickness was measured using the fast RNFL program by Stratus, the optic disc cube protocol by Cirrus, and the N-site axonal analysis by Spectralis.

RESULTS

Overall, a moderate to good RNFL color code agreement was found (0.435-0.884), except for the nasal quadrant. The temporal quadrant was the most abnormal color coding by both Cirrus (64.7%) and Spectralis (61.7%) in both the optic neuritis (ON) and non-ON group and by Stratus (58.8%) in the ON group. Abnormal temporal RNFL color-code rate was significantly higher in ON eyes than non-ON eyes by Cirrus (P < .001), Stratus (P < .001), and Spectralis (P = .030). Overall, Cirrus significantly displayed abnormal findings while both Stratus and Spectralis displayed normal results for the inferior quadrant (P < .05). On the other hand, Spectralis OCT showed a significantly higher rate of abnormal findings while Cirrus displayed normal results for the temporal quadrant in non-ON eyes (P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

We found a substantial color-code disagreement among devices in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis regarding the ON antecedent. In non-ON eyes, Spectralis yielded a significantly higher thinning for temporal quadrant than Cirrus, suggesting that N-site axonal analysis could define axonal damage in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients earlier than conventional RNFL analysis.