ABSTRACT
Background and purpose
Optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) measured by point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a commonly used non-invasive estimate of intracranial pressure (ICP). However, methodological variations limit standardization of this promising technique. Different imaging axes are identified as one such source of ONSD POCUS methodological variation. This study aimed to evaluate the agreement and diagnostic accuracy for elevated ICP between transverse and sagittal ONSD measurements.
Methods
We conducted a post-hoc analysis of 213 intensive care patients from three prior studies. ONSD was measured in both transverse and sagittal planes, externally (ONSDext) and internally (ONSDint) of the dura mater. Agreement was assessed using Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient (CCC). Diagnostic accuracy for detecting ICP ≥20 mmHg was evaluated using area under the receiver operator characteristics curve (AUROC) analyses in a subset of 139 patients.
Results
Sagittal ONSD was significantly larger than transverse ONSD (median difference 0.2 mm, p<0.001). Agreement between transverse and sagittal ONSD was poor (CCC: 0.65 and 0.70 for right and left side ONSDext, and 0.43 and 0.51 for right and left side ONSDint). No significant differences in AUROC were found between transverse, sagittal, or averaged measurements.
Conclusions
Transverse and sagittal ONSD measurements are not interchangeable due to significant differences and poor agreement. Diagnostic accuracy was similar across methods. These findings support continued use of transverse measurement as the standard approach for ONSD POCUS in clinical practice.
If you do not see content above, kindly GO TO SOURCE.
Not all publishers encode content in a way that enables republishing at Neuro.vip.
This post is Copyright: Jakob Pansell,
Tina Thomsson,
Emelie Eng,
Andreas Wallin,
Mohammad Hirzallah | August 4, 2025
Wiley: Journal of Neuroimaging: Table of Contents