Abstract
Background
Ultrasound (US) measurement of the optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) has been utilized
as an indirect assessment of intracranial pressure. It is usually performed by trained
ultrasonographers.
Objectives
To evaluate whether or not emergency physicians (EP) are capable of measuring the
ONSD accurately by US.
Materials and Methods
A retrospective measurement of ONSD was conducted on computed tomography (CT) scans
of the head or facial bones. These patients had undergone ocular US performed by EPs
prior to CT scanning. The CT scan measurements of ONSD read by a board-certified radiologist
were compared with that of the US read by a registered diagnostic medical sonographer.
A difference in measurements of the ONSD ≥ 0.5 mm between the two modalities was considered
as significant for this study.
Results
The ONSD measurements were performed with CT scan and compared to that of the US.
Of the 61 patients studied, 36 (59%) were male and 25 (41%) were female. The average
age was 56 ± 17 years. All but 3 patients had ONSD measurements that were between
5 and 6 mm. Discrepancy in measurements of the ONSD between US and CT for both groups
fell within our predetermined value (0.5 mm) for the majority of cases. None of the
measurements were above 6 mm. The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.9 (95%
confidence interval 0.8846–0.9303).
Conclusion
Emergency physicians were capable of accurately measuring the ONSD using bedside US.
Prospective studies with a larger sample size are recommended to validate these findings.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 09, 2014
Accepted:
September 30,
2014
Received in revised form:
July 25,
2014
Received:
April 12,
2014
Identification
Copyright
Published by Elsevier Inc.
ScienceDirect
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- ErratumJournal of Emergency MedicineVol. 51Issue 2
- The Bedside Ultrasound: A Rapid Way of Measuring Optic Nerve Sheath Diameter in EmergencyJournal of Emergency MedicineVol. 51Issue 2
- PreviewWe read with great interest the article written by Hassen et al. in the April 2015 issue of the Journal (1). The authors aimed to evaluate whether or not emergency physicians (EPs) are capable of measuring the optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) accurately using ultrasound (US). They concluded that EPs are capable of accurately measuring the ONSD using bedside US. We congratulate the authors for their enlightening study about this important subject, which is a common problem in the emergency department (ED).
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