Purpose: To compare optical coherence tomography (OCT) with fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) for the detection of cystoid macular edema (CME) in patients with uveitis.
Design: Prospective comparative observational series.
Participants: One hundred twenty-one eyes of 58 patients with uveitis of varied causes (seven patients were studied twice).
Testing: Patients with suspected CME underwent OCT scanning followed by FFA at the same visit.
Main outcome measures: Detection and distribution of macular edema.
Results: One hundred eight eyes had similar results on both OCT and FFA in that 67 eyes had CME and 41 eyes had no CME. In 10 eyes subretinal fluid was detected on OCT but not FFA. Five of these eyes had CME on FFA but not OCT. Three other eyes had CME that was detected by FFA but not by OCT. Compared with FFA, the OCT sensitivity for detecting CME was 96% (including the eyes with subretinal fluid), and the OCT specificity was 100%.
Conclusions: OCT is as effective at detecting CME as is FFA but is superior in demonstrating axial distribution of fluid.