Measuring retinal vessel tortuosity in 10-year-old children: Validation of the computer-assisted image analysis of the retina (caiar) program

Owen, Christopher G.; Rudnicka, Alicja R.; Mullen, Robert; Barman, Sarah A.; Monekosso, Dorothy; Whincup, Peter H.; Ng, Jeffrey; Paterson, Carl

Abstract

PURPOSE: To examine the agreement of a novel computer pro- gram measuring retinal vessel tortuosity with subjective assess-he morphologic characteristics of vessels of the retina have been associated with cardiovascular and coronary diseasement of tortuosity in school-aged children. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 387 retinal vessels (193 arterioles, 194 veins) from 28 eyes of 14 children (aged 10 years). Retinal digital images were analyzed using the Com-puter Assisted Image Analysis of the Retina (CAIAR) pro- gram, including 14 measures of tortuosity. Vessels were graded (from 0 = none; to 5 = tortuous) independently by two observers. Interobserver agreement was assessed by using statistics. Agreement with all 14 objective measures was assessed with correlation/regression analyses. Interses-sion repeatability (comparing morning and afternoon ses- sions) of tortuosity indices was calculated. RESULTS: Interobserver agreement of vessel tortuosity within one grade was high (k = 0.97), with total agreement in 56% of grades and 42% differing by ±1 grade. Tortuosity indices based on subdivided chord length methods showed strong log-linear associations with agreed subjective grades (typically r 0.6;P

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2009
• Journal: Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science
• Print ISSN: 0146-0404
• Electronic ISSN: 1552-5783
• Publisher: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 50
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 2004-2010
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.08-3018
• Keywords: arterioles/pathology, child, cross-sectional studies, humans, image processing, computer-assisted/methods, observer variation, reproducibility of results, retinal diseases/diagnosis, retinal vessels/pathology, venules/pathology
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/996237
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1167/iovs.08-3018