Computer-Assisted Methods to Evaluate Retinal Vascular Caliber: What Are They Measuring?

Helena M. Pakter1,2

Sandra C. Fuchs1,3,4

Marcelo K. Maestri1,5

Leila B. Moreira1,3,4

Luciana M. Dei Ricardi5

Vítor F. Pamplona6

Manuel M. Oliveira6

Flávio D. Fuchs3,4

¹Postgraduate Studies Program in Epidemiology, UFRGS
²Hospital Nossa Senhora da Conceicão
³Division of Cardiology - Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre
⁴National Institute for Science and Technology for Health Technology Assessment
⁵Division of Ophtamology - Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre
⁶ Informatics Institute, UFRGS

Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.
Volume 5 (2011), Number 2, pp. 810-815 . [DOI]

Contents

Computer-assisted methods to measure retinal vessel diameters have been incorporated into research, but it is not clear which component of the vessels they are measuring. This study was conducted to compare measurements of retinal vessel diameter by using imaging-processing software on color fundus photographs (FPs) and fluorescein angiographs (FAs). The very slight differences between measurements of retinal vessel diameter by the two methods demonstrate that the microdensitometric method mostly measures the vessel lumen. Differences in vessel diameters measured by the microdensitometric method observed in clinical conditions may therefore be ascribed to variation in wall thickness or vasoconstriction.

Full paper

Citation

Helena Pakter, Sandra Fuchs, Marcelo Maestri, Leila Moreira, Luciana Ricardi, Vitor Pamplona, Manuel M. Oliveira, and Flávio Fuchs. "Computer-Assisted Methods to Evaluate Retinal Vascular Caliber: What Are They Measuring?".  Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. Volume 5 (2011), Number 2, pp. 810-815.

BibTeX

@article{PakterEtAl:2011,
 author = {Helena Pakter and Sandra Fuchs and Marcelo Maestri and Leila Moreira and Luciana Ricardi and Vitor Pamplona and Manuel M. Oliveira and Flávio Fuchs},
 title = {Computer-Assisted Methods to Evaluate Retinal Vascular Caliber: What Are They Measuring?},
 journal = {Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science},
 issue_date = {February 2011},
 volume = {5},
 issue = {2},
 year = {2011},
 pages = {810--815},
} 

	CNPq-Brazil fellowships and grants #485831/2007-4.
	Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre-FIPE (Fundo de Incentivo a Pesquisa e Esino) Protocol GPPG 04-465.