Clinical agreement among glaucoma experts in the detection of glaucomatous changes of the optic disk using simultaneous stereoscopic photographs.

Abstract

To evaluate the clinical agreement in the detection of optic disk changes in patients with glaucoma using simultaneous stereophotographs. Masked-observer variability study. Ten glaucoma specialists examined pairs of simultaneous stereophotographs of glaucomatous and control optic disks to determine whether there were changes compatible with progression of glaucomatous damage. Intraobserver agreement had a kappa value ranging from 0.55 to 0.78. Interobserver agreement among the glaucoma specialists had a kappa value ranging from 0.34 to 0.68. Clinical examination of stereophotographs to detect optic disk changes in glaucoma patients has limitations associated with suboptimal reproducibility.