Sher Ifat, Tzameret Adi, Szalapak Alicja M, Carmeli Tomer, Derazne Estela, Avni-Zauberman Noa, Marcovich Arie L, Simon Guy Ben, Rotenstreich Ygal
Goldschleger Eye Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel.
Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2019 Feb 28;8(1):27. doi: 10.1167/tvst.8.1.27. eCollection 2019 Jan.
To evaluate the potential use of anterior segment spectral domain optical coherence tomography (AS-SD-OCT) combined with an automated grading of fluorescein staining for assessment of corneal erosions in a rabbit short-term dry eye model.
Twenty-one New Zealand white rabbits were anesthetized and eyes were kept open for 140 minutes to induce acute corneal desiccation. Rectangular scans of the cornea were performed using Spectralis AS-SD-OCT. Total corneal thickness, corneal epithelial thickness, and the percentage of epithelial erosion area (PEEA) were evaluated. Corneas were stained with fluorescein and graded automatically using EpiView and semi-automatically using ImageJ. Spearman's rank-order correlations were calculated to compare the AS-SD-OCT PEEA and the two corneal staining scores.
Eye desiccation resulted in corneal epithelium erosions that covered 0.67% to 14.2% of the central cornea (mean ± SD: 3.95% ± 3.2%) by AS-SD-OCT. The percentage of corneal area positively stained with fluorescein ranged from 0.24% to 38.01% (mean ± SD: 12.24% ± 9.7%) by using ImageJ, correlating with the AS-SD-OCT PEEA (Spearman's ρ, 0.574; = 0.007). The EpiView score ranged from 0.5 to 10.17 and was better correlated with the AS-SD-OCT PEEA score (Spearman's ρ, 0.795; = 0.000017).
Our study suggests that multimodal analysis of AS-SD-OCT and grading of fluorescein staining using EpiView software may enable quantitative assessment of corneal epithelial erosions in a rabbit short-term dry eye model.
This multimodal imaging analysis may be applied for evaluation of superficial punctate keratitis associated with dry eye.
评估眼前节谱域光学相干断层扫描（AS-SD-OCT）联合荧光素染色自动分级在兔短期干眼模型中评估角膜上皮糜烂的潜在应用价值。
21只新西兰白兔麻醉后，睁眼140分钟以诱导急性角膜干燥。使用Spectralis AS-SD-OCT对角膜进行矩形扫描。评估角膜总厚度、角膜上皮厚度和上皮糜烂面积百分比（PEEA）。角膜用荧光素染色，使用EpiView自动分级，并使用ImageJ半自动分级。计算Spearman等级相关性以比较AS-SD-OCT PEEA与两种角膜染色评分。
眼部干燥导致角膜上皮糜烂，通过AS-SD-OCT测量，糜烂覆盖中央角膜的0.67%至14.2%（平均值±标准差：3.95%±3.2%）。使用ImageJ测量，荧光素阳性染色的角膜面积百分比范围为0.24%至38.01%（平均值±标准差：12.24%±9.7%），与AS-SD-OCT PEEA相关（Spearman's ρ，0.574；P = 0.007）。EpiView评分范围为0.5至10.17，与AS-SD-OCT PEEA评分相关性更好（Spearman's ρ，0.795；P = 0.000017）。
我们的研究表明，AS-SD-OCT的多模态分析和使用EpiView软件对荧光素染色进行分级可能有助于在兔短期干眼模型中对角膜上皮糜烂进行定量评估。
这种多模态成像分析可用于评估与干眼相关的浅层点状角膜炎。
