Version 1
: Received: 30 August 2024 / Approved: 30 August 2024 / Online: 30 August 2024 (19:20:56 CEST)
How to cite:
Grauvogl, V.; Mayer, W. J.; Siedlecki, J.; Mohr, N.; Dirisamer, M.; Priglinger, S. G.; Kassumeh, S.; Luft, N. Corneal Epithelial Wavefront Error as a Novel Objective Biomarker Diagnostic Marker for Epithelial Basement Membrane Dystrophy. Preprints2024, 2024082276. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.2276.v1
Grauvogl, V.; Mayer, W. J.; Siedlecki, J.; Mohr, N.; Dirisamer, M.; Priglinger, S. G.; Kassumeh, S.; Luft, N. Corneal Epithelial Wavefront Error as a Novel Objective Biomarker Diagnostic Marker for Epithelial Basement Membrane Dystrophy. Preprints 2024, 2024082276. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.2276.v1
Grauvogl, V.; Mayer, W. J.; Siedlecki, J.; Mohr, N.; Dirisamer, M.; Priglinger, S. G.; Kassumeh, S.; Luft, N. Corneal Epithelial Wavefront Error as a Novel Objective Biomarker Diagnostic Marker for Epithelial Basement Membrane Dystrophy. Preprints2024, 2024082276. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.2276.v1
APA Style
Grauvogl, V., Mayer, W. J., Siedlecki, J., Mohr, N., Dirisamer, M., Priglinger, S. G., Kassumeh, S., & Luft, N. (2024). Corneal Epithelial Wavefront Error as a Novel Objective Biomarker Diagnostic Marker for Epithelial Basement Membrane Dystrophy. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.2276.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Grauvogl, V., Stefan Kassumeh and Nikolaus Luft. 2024 "Corneal Epithelial Wavefront Error as a Novel Objective Biomarker Diagnostic Marker for Epithelial Basement Membrane Dystrophy" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.2276.v1
Abstract
Synopsis
Corneal epithelial wavefront error and epithelial thickness variance qualify as highly sensitive and specific biomarkers for epithelial basement membrane dystrophy (EBMD). The biomarkers show a normalization after treatment of EBMD with phototherapeutic keratectomy.
Purpose: To gauge the diagnostic value of a novel spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) based imaging modality for simultaneous morphological (thickness profile) and refractive (optical wavefront) assessment of the corneal epithelial layer in one of the most common but often underdiagnosed corneal dystrophies: epithelial basement membrane dystrophy (EBMD).
Methods: In this prospective observational study, a total of 32 eyes of 32 patients diagnosed with EBMD and 32 eyes of 32 healthy control subjects were examined with high-resolution anterior segment SD-OCT (MS-39; CSO, Florence, Italy). Various epithelial thickness and epithelial wavefront derived terms were compared between groups and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were computed to analyze the diagnostic capacity of the respective parameters. A total of 17 of 32 EBMD patients underwent treatment with phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) and were followed up for 3 months.
Results: Epithelial thickness variance (60.4 ± 56.7 µm versus 7.6 ± 6.1 µm) and interquartile range (11.0±6.9 versus 3.3±1.9 µm) were markedly elevated in EBMD patients as compared with healthy controls (both with p < 0.001). Epithelial wavefront analysis showed a highly statistically significant excess in all examined aberration terms in EBMD patients (all with p < 0.001). Significantly greater areas under the curve (AUC) were yielded by the epithelial wavefront derived parameters (e.g. total epithelial wavefront error: AUC = 0.966; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.932 – 1) than by the epithelial thickness-derived parameters (e.g., variance: AUC = 0.919; 95% CI 0.848 – 0.990).
Conclusion: Corneal epithelial wavefront aberrometry proved valuable as an objective biomarker for EBMD with high sensitivity and specificity. PTK resulted in a reduction of morphological and refractive epithelial irregularities in EBMD.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
