Posterior segment indications of handheld spectral domain optical coherence tomography in pediatric age group in a tertiary eye center in Egypt

Objective The aim of this study was to detect the posterior segment indications for the use of handheld optical coherence tomography in the pediatric age group. Patients and methods This was a retrospective observational study that included patients who were candidates for handheld spectral domain optical coherence tomography (HH-OCT) imaging for retinal or optic nerve (ON) diseases in Abo Elreesh hospital during the period from June 2018 to June 2022. The image, demographic, and clinical database of the included patients were reviewed. Data were tabulated using Microsoft Excel. Appropriate statistical methods were used to analyze and correlate the obtained data. Results A total of 189 patients were included in this study, comprising 109 (57.7%) male patients. The mean age was 7.2±3.9 (range: 0.2–16 years) years. Overall, 46 (24.3%) patients were less than 5 years of age (i.e. infants and preschool age). Patients who underwent HH-OCT scanning due to retinal causes (i.e. nystagmus, unexplained poor vision, uveitis, Coat’s disease, trauma, and high myopia) were 130 (68.8%) patients, whereas 59 (31.2%) patients were indicated due to ON disease (i.e. primary congenital glaucoma and juvenile open angle glaucoma, optic disc hyperemia, swelling or pallor, and cases of large physiological cupping). Conclusion HH-OCT is a noninvasive feasible image modality for evaluation of retina and ON in infants and young children. The lack of a normative database for retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and ON head parameters in the pediatric age group in the device available in our service is considered a limitation in its use for proper evaluation of different pathologies involving the ON.