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Abstract #6717 Published in IGR 4-1
Teleophthalmology link between a primary health care centre and a reference hospital
Gonzalez F; Iglesias R; Suarez A; Gomez Ulla F; Perez RMedical Informatics and the Internet in Medicine 2001; 26: 251-263
The authors evaluated a teleophthalmology service linking a primary health care center and an eye clinic at a reference hospital. General practitioners at the primary care center serving a population of 15,000 and ophthalmologists at the reference hospital participated in this study. Eye fundus digital images were taken from 278 eye fundi of 139 consecutive patients with clinical conditions that could potentially produce fundus alterations. Fundus images were obtained with a non-mydriatic fundus camera (Canon CR6-45M) and were electronically sent to a reference hospital where an ophthalmologist inspected the images and returned the diagnosis. In 18 patients (13%) the images did not have good enough quality to exclude eye fundus lesions. In 24 patients (17%) clear eye fundus alterations were found in at least one eye. In 14 patients (10%) there were image features suggesting retinal alterations that could not be confirmed by image inspection. Media opacity (13 eyes, 5%, seven patients, 5%) was the most common cause of poor image quality. The most difficult assessment was the evaluation of optic nerve head cupping. Retinal edema was not observable in the digital images. In the authors' experience, teleopthalmology services seem to be an effective alternative for eye fundus diagnosis and patient follow-up.
Dr. F. Gonzalez, Departamento de Fisiologia, Laboratorios Ramon Dominguez, Univ. de Santiago de Compostela, c/San Francisco s/n, E-15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain. fspaco@usc.es
Classification:
6.19 Telemedicine (Part of: 6 Clinical examination methods)
