{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,31]],"date-time":"2026-10-31T00:34:29Z","timestamp":1793406869290,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,27]],"date-time":"2024-09-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1727395200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>To assess corneal epithelial-thickness (ET) mapping resulting from spectral-domain-optical-coherence-tomography (SD-OCT) by analysing its repeatability and reproducibility and its utility for screening corneal-refractive-surgery (CRS) candidates.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>ET was measured in 25-sectors by two-operators. Intra-subject-standard-deviation, coefficient-of-repeatability (CoR) and coefficient-of-variability (CoV) were calculated to evaluate repeatability. Reproducibility was evaluated using a Bland\u2013Altman analysis. Scheimpflug-tomography, refraction, visual acuity, and patient history were used to make a decision on eligibility for CRS. After this decision, the surgeon was shown the patient\u2019s ET map and was asked to reconsider his analysis. The percentage of screenings that changed after evaluating the ET maps was determined.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Forty-three eyes with normal corneas (CRS-group) and 21 eyes not suitable for CRS (non-CRS-group) were studied. For the CRS-group, CoR ranged from 2.03 (central) to 19.73\u2009\u03bcm (outer-inferonasal), with the central-sector showing the highest repeatability (CoV: 1.53\u20131.80%). For the non-CRS-group, CoR ranged from 3.82 (central-middle-superonasal) to 13.42\u2009\u03bcm (middle-inferotemporal), with the inner-superonasal-sector showing the highest repeatability (CoV: 2.86\u20134.46%). There was no statistically significant difference between operators (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&amp;gt;\u20090.01). In the CRS-group, the outcomes showed a narrow 95% limits-of-agreement (LoA) for the central-and inner-nasal-sectors (about 4\u2009\u03bcm), and wider for the inner-superior, outer-superotemporal and outer-inferonasal (about 10\u201314\u2009\u03bcm). In the non-CRS-group, they were for the outer superonasal (about 4\u2009\u03bcm), and for the middle-inferotemporal and outer-temporal (about 10\u2009\u03bcm), respectively. Candidacy for CRS changed in 7.82% of patients after evaluation of the ET maps, with all of them screened-out.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The SD-OCT provided repeatable and reproducible corneal ET measurements and may alter candidacy for CRS.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Clinical trial registration<\/jats:title><jats:p>German Clinical Trials Register: <jats:uri>https:\/\/drks.de\/search\/en\/trial\/DRKS00032797<\/jats:uri>, identifier: DRKS00032797.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2024.1459636","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,27]],"date-time":"2024-09-27T15:47:59Z","timestamp":1727452079000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Assessment of corneal epithelial thickness mapping by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Pedro","family":"Ta\u00f1\u00e1-Rivero","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paz","family":"Orts-Vila","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pedro","family":"Ta\u00f1\u00e1-Sanz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mar\u00eda","family":"Ramos-Alzamora","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Robert","family":"Mont\u00e9s-Mic\u00f3","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"125","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajo.2022.02.021","article-title":"Determining the utility of epithelial thickness mapping in refractive surgery evaluations","volume":"240","author":"Asroui","year":"2022","journal-title":"Am J Ophthalmol"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2425","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ophtha.2012.06.023","article-title":"Corneal epithelial thickness mapping by Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography in normal and keratoconic eyes","volume":"119","author":"Li","year":"2012","journal-title":"Ophthalmology"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"173","DOI":"10.3928\/1081597X-20130129-08","article-title":"SD-OCT analysis of regional epithelial thickness profiles in keratoconus, postoperative corneal ectasia, and normal eyes","volume":"29","author":"Rocha","year":"2013","journal-title":"J Refract Surg"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"812","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcrs.2014.06.043","article-title":"Corneal epithelial thickness mapping using Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography for detection of form fruste keratoconus","volume":"41","author":"Temstet","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Cataract Refract Surg"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1360","DOI":"10.1097\/j.jcrs.0000000000000990","article-title":"Systematic detection of keratoconus in OCT: corneal and epithelial thickness maps","volume":"48","author":"Y\u00fccekul","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Cataract Refract Surg"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"9116","DOI":"10.1167\/iovs.11-7988","article-title":"Ocular surface epithelial thickness evaluation with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography","volume":"52","author":"Francoz","year":"2011","journal-title":"Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1446","DOI":"10.1097\/OPX.0000000000000417","article-title":"Assessment of corneal epithelial thickness in dry eye patients","volume":"91","author":"Cui","year":"2014","journal-title":"Optom Vis Sci"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1628469","DOI":"10.1155\/2016\/1628469","article-title":"Ocular surface epithelial thickness evaluation in dry eye patients: clinical correlations","volume":"2016","author":"Liang","year":"2016","journal-title":"J Ophthalmol"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1353","DOI":"10.1097\/ICO.0000000000003012","article-title":"Corneal epithelial thickness mapping in the diagnosis of ocular surface disorders involving the corneal epithelium: a comparative study","volume":"41","author":"Levy","year":"2022","journal-title":"Cornea"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0239124","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0239124","article-title":"Assessment of corneal epithelial thickness mapping in epithelial basement membrane dystrophy","volume":"15","author":"Buffault","year":"2020","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"179","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajo.2018.03.034","article-title":"Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography in limbal stem cell deficiency. 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