After its development approximately 20 years ago, optical coherence tomography (OCT) has taken an important part in the scientific and clinical work of the ophthalmologist and continues to develop. Using OCT technology in every day practice helps the eye doctors to make clinical diagnoses and follow-up of socially significant diseases like glaucoma, degenerative retinal diseases, and pathology of the macula and optic nerve head, which could be responsible for irreversible decrease or loss of central and/or peripheral vision. Because of the above-mentioned, we aimed to summarize the diagnostic and follow-up possibilities of OCT as an imaging technique for childhood eye diseases. Since this technology was initially developed to be used in adults, its use in children is limited to some extent. This could be explained basically with the inapplicability of stationary OCT devices in all children and the absence of normative database for those under 18 years of age. During the last decade, specially developed portable devices for children have been developed. By their use investigating and diagnosing of eye pathology is possible in very early age, and this allows subsequent adequate therapy and prevents from a life with disability.
Puliafito CA, Schuman JS, Hee MR, Fujimoto JS, editors. Optical coherence tomography of ocular diseases. 1 ed. SLACK Inc.; 1995.
Bouma BE, Tearney GJ, editors . Handbook of optical coherence tomography. New York: Marcel Dekker. 2002; pp 487-503.
Gabriele M, Wollstein G, Ishikawa H, Kagemann L, Xu J, Folio L. Optical coherence tomography: history, current status, and laboratory work. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011; 52(5): 2425-36.
World Health Organization. Magnitude and causes of visual impairment. Geneva: WHO; 2004:282.
Printing House for the Blind. Facts and Figures on Americans with Vision Loss. New York: American Foundation for the Blind; 2007.
Gilbert C. Childhood blindness. In: Johnson GJ, Minassian DC, Weale R, eds. The epidemiology of eye disease. 1st ed. London: Chapman and Hall; 1998. pp. 181-208.
Mihaylova B, Biswas S. The portable HH-OCT system as a successful imaging technology for some ophthalmologic conditions in children. Glaucomas. 2019; 7(1):18-23. (in Bulgarian).
Mihaylova B. Achievements of the HH-OCT system for quantity assessment of retinal parameters in children. Glaucomas. 2019; 7(1):24-30. (in Bulgarian).
Mihaylova B. Investigation of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and its physiological asymmetry in healthy children and adults with Topcon OCT. Bulgarian Rev Ophthalmol. 2016; 60(1):3-15. (in Bulgarian).
Mihaylova B, Dimitrova G, Toshev A, Kostova S. Study of the peripapillary retinal neurofibrillary layer in health children with optical coherence tomography. Glaucomas. 2016; 5(1):12-8. (in Bulgarian).
Patel A, Purohit R, Lee H, Sheth V, Maconachie G, Papageorgiou E, et al. Optic nerve head development in healthy infants and children using handheld spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. Ophthalmol. 2016; 123(10):2147-57. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2016.06.057.
Avery RA, Cnaan A, Schuman JS, Chen CL, Glaug NC, Packer RJ, et al. Reproducibility of circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer measurements using handheld optical coherence tomography in sedated children. Am J Ophthalmol. 2014; 158(4):780-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2014.06.017.
Avery RA, Cnaan A, Schuman JS, Chen CL, Glaug NC, Packer RJ, et al. Intra- and inter-visit reproducibility of ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer measurements using handheld optical coherence tomography in children with optic pathway gliomas. Am J Ophthalmol. 2014; 158(5):916-23. doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2014.07.029.
Mihaylova B. Reference values of the macular parameters (mRNFL, GCL+ и GCL++) in children and young adults with optical coherence tomography. Glaucomas. 2016; 5(2):9-13. (in Bulgarian).
Mihaylova B, Dimitrova G. Evaluation of peripapillary and macular retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in anisometropic amblyopic children with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. Bulgarian Rev Ophthalmol. 2017; 61(2):3-12. (in Bulgarian).
Sobral I, Rodrigues TM, Soares M, Seara M, Monteiro M, Paiva C, et al. OCT angiography findings in children with amblyopia. J AAPOS. 2018;22(4):286-9.e2.
Shandurkov I, Tomova B, Nikolaeva Y. Optical coherence tomography angiography as a follow-up method in a child treated with aflibercept due to myopic choroidal neovascular membrane. Bulgarian Rev Ophthalmol. 2018; 62(4):27-32.
Yang J, Liu L, Campbell J, Huang D, Liu G. Handheld optical coherence tomography angiography. Biomed Opt Express. 2017; 8(4): 2287-300.
Duke team creates tools to capture real-time images of the retina. Available at: https://www.ctsi.duke.edu/news/duke-team-creates-tools-capture-real-time-images-retina
Avery R, Hwang E, Ishikawa H, Acosta M, Hutcheson K, Santos D, et al. Handheld optical coherence tomography during sedation in young children with optic pathway gliomas. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2014; 132(3):265-71.
Vinekar A, Sivakumar M, Shetty R, Mahendradas P, Krishnan N, Mallipatna A, et al. A novel technique using spectraldomain optical coherence tomography (Spectralis, SD-OCT+HRA) to image supine non-anaesthetized infants: utility demonstrated in aggressive posterior retinopathy of prematurity. Eye. 2010; 24(2):379-82. doi: 10.1038/eye.2009.313.
Mallipatna A, Vinekar A, Jayadev C, Dabir S, Sivakumar M, Krishnan N, et al. The use of handheld spectral domain optical coherence tomography in pediatric ophthalmology practice: Our experience of 975 infants and children. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2015; 63(7):586-93. doi: 10.4103/0301-4738.167108.
Email this article (Login required) 
