Relative Importance of Glaucoma-Referral Indicators in Retinal Images in a Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Programme in Slovenia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Glaucoma is a major cause of irreversible visual impairment and blindness, so its timely detection is crucial. Retinal images from diabetic retinopathy screening programmes (DRSP) provide an opportunity to detect undiagnosed glaucoma. Our aim was to find out which retinal image indicators are most suitable for referring DRSP patients for glaucoma assessment and to determine the glaucoma detection potential of Slovenian DRSP. Materials and Methods: We reviewed retinal images of patients from the DRSP at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana (November 2019-January 2020, May-August 2020). Patients with at least one indicator and some randomly selected patients without indicators were invited for an eye examination. Suspect glaucoma and glaucoma patients were considered accurately referred. Logistic regression (LOGIT) with patients as statistical units and generalised estimating equation with logistic regression (GEE) with eyes as statistical units were used to determine the referral accuracy of indicators. Results: Of the 2230 patients reviewed, 209 patients (10.1%) had at least one indicator on a retinal image of either one eye or both eyes. A total of 149 (129 with at least one indicator and 20 without) attended the eye exam. Seventy-nine (53.0%) were glaucoma negative, 54 (36.2%) suspect glaucoma, and 16 (10.7%) glaucoma positive. Seven glaucoma patients were newly detected. Neuroretinal rim notch predicted glaucoma in all cases. The cup-to-disc ratio was the most important indicator for accurate referral (odds ratio 7.59 (95% CI 3.98-14.47; p < 0.001) and remained statistically significant multivariably. Family history of glaucoma also showed an impact (odds ratio 3.06 (95% CI 1.02-9.19; p = 0.046) but remained statistically significant only in the LOGIT multivariable model. Other indicators and confounders were not statistically significant in the multivariable models. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the neuroretinal rim notch and cup-to-disc ratio are the most important for accurate glaucoma referral from retinal images in DRSP. Approximately half of the glaucoma cases in DRSPs may be undiagnosed.