Nonmydriatic widefield retinal imaging with an automatic white LED confocal imaging system compared with dilated ophthalmoscopy in screening for diabetic retinopathy

Purpose: To compare nonmydriatic montage widefield images with dilated fundus ophthalmoscopy for determining diabetic retinopathy (DR) severity. Materials and methods: In this prospective, observational, cross-sectional study, patients with a previous diagnosis of diabetes and without history of diabetes-associated ocular disease were screened for DR. Montage widefield imaging was obtained with a system that combines confocal technology with white-light emitting diode (LED) illumination (DRSplus, Centervue, Padua, Italy). Dilated fundus examination was performed by a retina specialist. Results: Thirty-seven eyes (20 patients, 8 females) were finally included in the analysis. Mean age of the patients enrolled was 58.0 ± 11.6 years [range 31–80 years]. The level of DR identified on montage widefield images agreed exactly with indirect ophthalmoscopy in 97.3% (36) of eyes and was within 1 step in 100% (37) of eyes. Cohen's kappa coefficient (κ) was 0.96, this suggesting an almost perfect agreement between the two modalities in DR screening. Nonmydriatic montage widefield imaging acquisition time was significantly shorter than that of dilated clinical examination (p = 0.010). Conclusion: Nonmydriatic montage widefield images were compared favorably with dilated fundus examination in defining DR severity; however, they are acquired more rapidly.