Infrared Choroidal Reflectance Camera for the Detection of Childhood Cataract

Childhood Cataract Clinical Trial

Official title:

Proof of Concept Trial of a Novel Imaging System to Assess and Document Choroidal Reflectance in Children for the Detection of Cataract and Media Opacities.

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03035292
• Other study ID #: 159569
• Secondary ID: REC17/EE/0010
• Status: Completed
• Start date: February 1, 2017
• Est. completion date: September 1, 2017

Study information

• Verified date: January 2023
• Source: Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

Sensitivity and specificity of current screening methods for childhood cataracts is poor. This results in delayed diagnosis and management which can decrease the visual prognosis following cataract surgery. It also results in many false positives with resultant unnecessary healthcare costs in specialist paediatric ophthalmology services. This study compares the accuracy of cataract screening using infrared light compared to white light in a population of children attending eye clinic.

Description:

All babies born in the United Kingdom (UK) undergo eye screening to enable the early diagnosis and management of childhood cataract, a treatable but potentially blinding condition affecting 1 in 2000 newborns. The current technique involves the assessment of the "red-reflex" - the orange/red glow in the pupil seen during ophthalmoscopy (or flash photography) due to reflectance of light from the back of the eye. In reality, testing can be technically difficult because the pupil constricts to light during the examination and, particularly in babies of Asian and Afro-Caribbean ancestry, the red-reflex can be dim due to the effect of ocular pigmentation. As a result less than 50% of congenital cataracts are currently identified up by screening. Early visual experience is required for good visual development and a delay in the surgical management of cataracts results in sub-optimal visual development and visual impairment.

There are theoretical advantages to using Infrared (IR) light rather than white light to assess choroidal reflectance, including avoidance of pupil constriction. The study aims to determine if the assessment of the IR-reflex, using a prototype device, rather than the red-reflex, using a direct ophthalmoscope, improves screening accuracy in the detection of ocular media opacities in a pathology enriched childhood cohort.

Eligible children attending an eye clinic will be screened for cataract by a medical student (masked to the pathology) using the existing standard direct ophthalmoscope technique for red-reflex assessment and IR-reflex assessment using the prototype imaging device. A gold standard examination by an ophthalmologist will follow the screening examinations. Sensitivity and specificity of each screening technique will be calculated and compared.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 110
• Est. completion date: September 1, 2017
• Est. primary completion date: September 1, 2017
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 1 Month to 5 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• All children between 1 month and 5 years of age attending paediatric ophthalmology clinic

Exclusion Criteria:

• Parents / carers with poor conversant English

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Cataract
• Childhood Cataract

Intervention

Diagnostic Test:
• Red-reflex assessment
The red reflex was examined in the standard manner using direct ophthalmoscope by medical student examiner
• Infrared-reflex assessment
The infrared reflex was examined using a modified smart phone camera by a medical student examiner

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United Kingdom	Addenbrooke's Hospital	Cambridge	Cambridgeshire

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United Kingdom, 

References & Publications (3)

Duret A, Humphries R, Ramanujam S, Te Water Naude A, Reid C, Allen LE. The infrared reflex: a potential new method for congenital cataract screening. Eye (Lond). 2019 Dec;33(12):1865-1870. doi: 10.1038/s41433-019-0509-9. Epub 2019 Jul 2. — View Citation

Mndeme FG, Mmbaga BT, Kim MJ, Sinke L, Allen L, Mgaya E, Bastawrous A, MacLeod D, Burton MJ, Gilbert C, Bowman R. Red reflex examination in reproductive and child health clinics for early detection of paediatric cataract and ocular media disorders: cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy and feasibility studies from Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Eye (Lond). 2021 May;35(5):1347-1353. doi: 10.1038/s41433-020-1019-5. Epub 2020 Jun 16. — View Citation

Rahi JS, Dezateux C. National cross sectional study of detection of congenital and infantile cataract in the United Kingdom: role of childhood screening and surveillance. The British Congenital Cataract Interest Group. BMJ. 1999 Feb 6;318(7180):362-5. doi: 10.1136/bmj.318.7180.362. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Results of Red-reflex and Infrared-reflex Tests Compared to Gold Standard	True positives: the number of eyes with cataract correctly identified True negatives: the number of eyes without cataract correctly identified False positives: the number of eyes without cataracts incorrectly identified as having cataract False negatives positives: the number of eyes with cataract incorrectly identified as not having cataract	1 day
Primary	Sensitivity and Specificity of Red-reflex and Infrared-reflex Testing	Sensitivity (percentage of eyes with cataract correctly identified) and specificity (percentage of eyes without cataract correctly identified) of red-reflex and infrared-reflex testing in percentage terms with 95% Confidence Intervals. Sensitivity and specificity are recorded as a percentage, with 100% indicating best accuracy.	1 day
Secondary	Results of Red-reflex and Infrared-reflex Tests Compared to Gold Standard Stratified by Ethnicity	True positives: the number of eyes with cataract correctly identified in caucasian children's eyes and in BAME children's eyes. True negatives: the number of eyes without cataract correctly identified in caucasian children's eyes and in BAME children's eyes. False positives: the number of eyes without cataract incorrectly identified as having cataract in caucasian children's eyes and in BAME children's eyes. False negatives: the number of eyes with cataract incorrectly identified as not having cataract in caucasian children's eyes and in BAME children's eyes.	1 day
Secondary	Sensitivity and Specificity of Red-reflex and Infrared-reflex Testing Stratified by Ethnicity	Sensitivity (percentage of eyes with cataract correctly identified) and specificity (percentage of eyes without cataract correctly identified) of red-reflex and infrared-reflex testing in percentage terms with 95% Confidence Intervals. Sensitivity and specificity are recorded as a percentage, with 100% indicating best accuracy.	1 day