Detection of intracranial hypertension in children using optical coherence tomography: a systematic review protocol.

Abstract

Intracranial hypertension (ICH) in children can have deleterious effects on the brain and vision. It is notoriously difficult to estimate intracranial pressure (ICP) in children and existing methods deliver suboptimal diagnostic accuracy to be used as screening tools. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) may represent a valuable, non-invasive surrogate measure of ICP, as has been demonstrated in a number of associated conditions affecting adults. More recently, OCT has been employed within the paediatric age group. However, the role of OCT in detecting ICH in children has not been rigorously assessed in a systematic review for all relevant conditions. Here, we propose a systematic review protocol to examine the role of OCT in the detection of ICH in children. Electronic searches in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Medline, Embase, Web of Science and PubMed will identify studies featuring OCT in detecting ICH in children. Two independent screeners will identify studies for inclusion using a screening questionnaire. The systematic search and screening will take place between 2 April 2020 and 1 June 2020, while we aim to complete data analysis by 1 September 2020. Quality assessment will be performed using the National Institutes of Health Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. The primary outcome measure is the sensitivity and specificity of OCT in detecting ICH in children. Secondary outcomes measures include conditions associated with ICH per study, direct ICP monitoring, sensitivity and specificity of other measures for ICP and OCT parameters used. Ethical approval is not required for the proposed systematic review as no primary data will be collected. The findings will be disseminated through presentations at scientific meetings and peer-reviewed journal publication. CRD42019154254.