Comparison of Neovascularization Detection in Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy Using Widefield Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography and Fluorescein Angiography Among Ophthalmology Residents at a Single Institution

Background and Objective This study compares the ability of resident ophthalmologists to identify neovascularization (NV) in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) using widefield swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) and fluorescein angiography (FA). Patients and Methods Fluorescein angiography and SS-OCTA images were scrambled to create a grading set consisting of 1) early and late phase FA images, 2) B-scan videos, and 3) vitreoretinal interface (VRI) slab. Participants were asked to identify NV. Results Twelve resident physicians participated in the study. Resident physicians correctly identified 75.6% of NV using FA, 65.3% of NV using SS-OCTA B-scans, and 90.7% of NV using the SSOCTA VRI slab. There was no statistically significant difference in participants' ability to detect NV across imaging modalities ( P = 0.08). Conclusion Detection rates of NV using SS-OCTA were comparable to that of using FA. Results suggest that SS-OCTA may be an appropriate imaging modality for detection of NV in PDR patients. [ Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina 2024;55:XX–XX.]