Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the repeatability and reproducibility of post-mortem central corneal thickness (CCT) measurements by using a real-time, portable optical coherence tomography (OCT) system on an animal model, and to prospectively evaluate the time-course of post-mortem changes in CCT. Forty-six ocular globes of sheep (Ovis aries) were analyzed with a portable spectral-domain OCT device by two operators at different postmortem intervals (PMIs) as follows: immediately (i.e. within 10 minutes), at the 30th minute, at the 1st, 6th, 12th, 24th and 48th hour, and later (up to the 96th hour). The coefficient of repeatability ranged from 0.3% to 3.5%, and coefficients of reproducibility ranged from 0.2% to 3.7% in the central region of the cornea. The intraclass correlation coefficients were particularly high at different PMIs, thus confirming good measurement reliability with the portable OCT. The average CCT decreased immediately and then increased thereafter, with two peaks at 6 and 24 hours after death. Our results suggest that portable OCT is a reliable tool for monitoring CCT variations after death and may be useful in characterizing corneas before explantation, detecting quantitative variations during post-mortem corneal degeneration or assessing changes in CCT for forensic implications.
Highlights
In vivo optical coherence tomography (OCT) quantitative evaluation of central corneal thickness (CCT) has different important applications for management of corneal diseases, glaucoma, and refractive surgery[9,10]
The mean and SDs of post-mortem CCT measurements in the central region (0–2 mm) obtained for each postmortem intervals (PMIs) and for the 46 eyes are shown in Table 1
In all cases it was found that ≥95% of differences fell within 2 SDs of the mean. This result indicates reproducibility in post-mortem CCT measurements according to the definitions of the British Standards Institution
Summary
In vivo OCT quantitative evaluation of central corneal thickness (CCT) has different important applications for management of corneal diseases, glaucoma, and refractive surgery[9,10]. To our knowledge, no study has been published on the intra- and inter-observer reliability of post-mortem CCT measurements taken in situ with OCT. To evaluate changes in corneal thickness after death it is clearly necessary first to use a portable OCT system (which can be used with patients in the supine position) at different PMIs (i.e. without VF) to quantify the level of reproducibility and repeatability of CCT measurements, as well as to evaluate the temporal range in which this quantitative approach can be reliably applied. The purpose of this study was to determine the repeatability and reproducibility of post-mortem CCT measurements by using a real-time, portable OCT system on an animal model. We evaluated the time-course of post-mortem changes in corneal thickness
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