Sector-Based Regression Strategies to Reduce Refractive Error-Associated Glaucoma Diagnostic Bias When Using OCT and OCT Angiography

Abstract

<p><strong>Purpose</strong>: This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the sectoral variance of optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA) glaucoma diagnostic parameters across eyes with varying degrees of refractive error.</p><p><strong>Methods</strong>: Healthy participants, including individuals with axial ametropia, enrolled in the Hong Kong FAMILY cohort were imaged using the Avanti/AngioVue OCT/OCTA system. The OCT and OCTA parameters obtained include peripapillary nerve fiber layer thickness (NFLT), peripapillary nerve fiber layer plexus capillary density (NFLP-CD), and macular ganglion cell complex thickness (GCCT). Sectoral measurements of NFLT, NFLP-CD, and GCCT were based on sectors and hemispheres.</p><p><strong>Results</strong>: A total of 1339 eyes from 791 participants were stratified based on spherical equivalent refraction: high myopia (<−6 D), low myopia (−6 D to −1 D), emmetropia (−1 D to 1 D), and hyperopia (>1 D). Multivariable broken stick regression models, accounting for age, sex, and signal strength, showed that all NFLT sectors except temporally, the inferior GCCT hemisphere, and half of the NFLP-CD sectors were more affected by ametropia-related covariates than the corresponding global parameters. As expected, the false-positive rates in those sectors were elevated. Finally, sector-specific axial length (AL) and spherical equivalent (SE) adjustments helped reduce the elevated false-positive rates.</p><p><strong>Conclusions</strong>: The effect of optical magnification is even more prominent among sectors than the global parameters. AL- and SE-based adjustments should be individualized to each sector to mitigate this magnification bias effectively.</p><p><strong>Translational Relevance</strong>: Identifying sectoral differences among diagnostic parameters and adopting these sector-based adjustments into commercial OCT systems will hopefully reduce false-positive rates related to refractive error.</p>