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Abstract
Objectives: We evaluated the frequency and predictive value of ocular fundus abnormalities among patients who presented to the emergency department (ED) with focal neurologic deficits to determine the utility of these findings in the evaluation of patients with suspected TIA and stroke.
Methods: In this cross-sectional pilot study, ocular fundus photographs were obtained using a nonmydriatic fundus camera. Demographic, neuroimaging, and ABCD2 score components were collected. Photographs were reviewed for retinal microvascular abnormalities. The results were analyzed using univariate statistics and logistic regression modeling.
Results: Two hundred fifty-seven patients presented to the ED with focal neurologic deficits, of whom 81 patients (32%) had cerebrovascular disease (CVD) and 144 (56%; 95% confidence interval: 50%–62%) had retinal microvascular abnormalities. Focal and general arteriolar narrowing increased the odds of clinically diagnosed CVD by 5.5 and 2.6 times, respectively, after controlling for the ABCD2 score and diffusion-weighted imaging. These fundus findings also significantly differentiated TIA from non-CVD, even after controlling for the ABCD2 score.
Conclusions: Focal and general arteriolar narrowing were independent predictors of CVD overall, and TIA alone, even after controlling for the ABCD2 score and diffusion-weighted imaging lesions. The inclusion of nonmydriatic ocular fundus photographs in the evaluation of patients presenting to the ED with focal neurologic deficits may assist in the differentiation of stroke and TIA from other causes of focal neurologic deficits.
GLOSSARY
- ABCD2=
- age, blood pressure, clinical features, duration of TIA, presence of diabetes;
- ARIC=
- Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities;
- CI=
- confidence interval;
- CVD=
- cerebrovascular disease;
- DWI=
- diffusion-weighted imaging;
- ED=
- emergency department;
- FOTO-ED=
- Fundus Photography vs Ophthalmoscopy Trial Outcomes in the Emergency Department;
- OR=
- odds ratio
Footnotes
Go to Neurology.org for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.
- Received November 17, 2014.
- Accepted in final form March 26, 2015.
- © 2015 American Academy of Neurology
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- OCULAR FUNDUS PHOTOGRAPHY IN EMERGENCY
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