Intraobserver and interobserver agreement in evaluating the anterior chamber angle configuration by ultrasound biomicroscopy

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the intra- and interobserver agreement in assessing the configuration of the human anterior chamber angle using ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM).

Methods: Two masked clinicians used ubm images to estimate, in 41 eyes, (a) the position of contact between the peripheral iris and the inside of the eye wall, (b) the angular size of the anterior chamber angle (ACA), and (c) the curvature of the peripheral iris. Both observers, masked to the previous results, examined the same images in a second session. Agreement was evaluated using the unweighted kappa statistic.

Results: Intraobserver agreement in assessing the iris insertion, angular width, and the iris curvature was high (range of kappa values, 0.83-0.92). Interobserver agreement in evaluating the level of iris insertion (kappa = 0.79), the angular width (kappa = 0.95), and the iris curvature (kappa = 0.84) was also high.

Conclusion: The agreement within the same observer and between observers in evaluating the ACA configuration by UBM was excellent.