To compare macular thickness measurements obtained from time domain optical coherence tomography (TD-OCT) and 2 spectral domain (SD) OCTs and to evaluate their repeatability and agreement in normal subjects and diabetic macular edema patients.

Fifty-four healthy, normal subjects and 26 diabetic macular edema patients were participated in this study. In a randomly selected eye from each subject, two serial macular measurements were obtained from TD-OCT (Stratus OCT) and SD-OCTs (Cirrus HD-OCT, Spectralis HRA+OCT) by an experienced technician in random order. Nine areas of macular thickness map and repeatabilities obtained by the 3 OCTs were compared.

In relative repeatability, SD-OCT showed better results overall compared to TD-OCT. Macular thickness was greatest in the Spectralis HRA+OCT in both normal subjects and diabetic macular edema patients, followed by Cirrus HD-OCT and Stratus OCT. In normal subjects, regardless of the type of comparison between the machines there was a statistically significant difference in all 9 areas.

While the TD-OCT and the 2 SD-OCTs are reliable for macular thickness measurement, SD-OCT has better measurement repeatability compared with TD-OCT. Because macular measurements obtained from the 3 OCT systems cannot be interchanged, an effort should be made to standardize the measurement of each system.