Anterior Vitreous Objective Assessment in Uveitis: An Anterior Segment Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography Study

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To assess inflammatory changes in the anterior vitreous (AV) using a swept source anterior segment optical coherence tomography (SS-ASOCT) and to correlate them with uveitis features and clinical grading of intraocular inflammation.

Methods

140 eyes from 96 patients were included in this observational, cross-sectional study: 40 ACTIVE uveitis, 40 INACTIVE uveitis and 60 CONTROLS. All eyes underwent intraocular inflammation clinical grading (anterior chamber (AC) cells counting and vitreous haze evaluation) and AV imaging with SS-ASOCT. Cells seen in the AV on OCT were manually counted using imageJ. Vitreous reflectivity variation was indirectly measured by calculating the vitreous/iris pigment epithelium (VIT/IPE) relative intensity. These OCT-based parameters were compared across the groups and correlated with inflammation clinical grading.

Results

The mean [SD] number of AV OCT cells was significantly higher (both p < 0.001) in ACTIVE uveitis (12[9.8]) compared to INACTIVE uveitis (4.5[3.5]) and CONTROLS (4[3.1]). In ACTIVE uveitis the number of AV OCT cells was significantly and positively correlated with the AC cells (p = 0.04), the VIT/IPE relative intensity (p = 0.0002), the uveitis anatomical classification (INTERMEDIATE UVEITIS, p = 0.02) and the vitreous haze clinical grading (p < 0.0001). The mean[SD] VIT/IPE relative intensity of the AV increased from CONTROLS (0.12[0.01]) to INACTIVE uveitis (0.15[0.01]) to ACTIVE uveitis (0.17[0.02]), but with no statistically significant differences.

Conclusions

We were able to visualize and objectively evaluate changes occurring in the AV in eyes with uveitis by means of a commercially available SS-ASOCT. OCT-cells in the AV could represent an adjunctive tool in the objective evaluation of intraocular inflammation.

KEYWORDS:

• Anterior vitreous
• cells
• objective grading
• optical coherence tomography
• uveitis

Disclosure statement

Giovanni Staurenghi and Alessandro Invernizzi received personal fees from Heidelberg Engineering, the manufacturer of the OCT device used in this study, outside the submitted work.

Financial disclosures

A. Invernizzi, Bayer (C), Novartis (C), Roche (C), Heidelberg Engineering (R). C. Zaffalon, None; P. Manni, None; F. Zicarelli, None; D. Chisari, None; C. Adani, None; V. Mastrofilippo, None; E. Bolletta, None; F. Gozzi, None; L. De Simone, None; G. Staurenghi, Heidelberg Engineering (F, R), Optos (F), Ocular Instruments (P), Optovue (F), Quantel Medical (F), Centervue (F, R), Carl Zeiss Meditec (F), Nidek (F, R), Apellis (R), Allergan (R), Bayer (R), Boheringer (R), Topcon (F), Genentech (R), Novartis (R), Roche (R), Chengdu Kanghong Biotechnology Co. (R), Kyoto Drug Discovery & Development Co. (R); L. Cimino, AbbVie (C), Santen (C).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09273948.2024.2339435.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.