Optical coherence tomography was progressively incorporated to the contemporary diagnostic arsenal in Ophthalmology, playing a crucial role in the diagnosis and management of eye diseases, particularly in the specialty of retina and vitreous. The commercial availability of the new generation of devices, coined "spectral" optical coherence tomography, which is based in a distinct physical concept that permits high-speed image acquisition, launched a new era for this investigative ancillary tool. In addition, the recent combination of this new technology with a confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope has permitted the acquisition of tomographic images driven by different imaging modalities simultaneously (fundus autofluorescence, near-infrared reflectance, and fluorescein or indocyanine-green angiographies). Multimodal fundus imaging permits a reliable and detailed correlation between the morphological findings of the retina or retinal pigment epithelium and angiographic studies or fundus autofluorescence, leading to valuable insights about retina physiology. In this article, we briefly discuss possible practical implications of this new diagnostic modality for the retina specialist.
Angiography; Retinal pigment epithelium; Tomography, optical coherence; Fluorescence; Spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared; Laser; Retina
