• A novel method to match ultrasound and ultra-widefield color fundus measurements • A standardized procedure was implemented to determine diameters of uveal melanoma in both modalities. • Transversal diameter on ultra-widefield color fundus imaging is comparable to ultrasound measurements For diagnosis and monitoring of ocular neoplastic lesions, ultrasonography (US) measurements are pivotal. Using color fundus photographs rather than US may allow follow-up with an ophthalmologist close to patients’ home and may reduce the need of patients to travel to specialized ocular-oncological centers. This study aims to compare measurements of choroidal melanoma (CM) diameters in ultra-widefield color fundus images (UWF-CF) to measurements based on US. In this comparative retrospective study patients with CM and available US and UWF-CF were included. Standardized US measurements and UWF-CF were compared using Bland-Altman plots and paired t-tests to evaluate agreement of methods. 53 eyes of 53 patients with CM (31 male (58.5%), mean age 63±13 years) were included in this study. Mean transversal diameter (TD) was not statistically significantly different between US (9.06±2.65mm) and UWF-CF (9.04±3.07mm; p=0.920). Mean longitudinal diameter (LD) was statistically significantly greater in UWF-CF (10.01±2.86mm) as compared to US (9.31±2.55mm; p=0.009). Tumor diameters can be assessed accurately in UWF-CF. TD on UWF-CF is comparable to US measurements via a standardized procedure. Differences may be explained by the presence of e.g. fibrosis or hard exudates obscuring basal tumor diameters.
Kreminger et al. (Sun,) studied this question.