All RDs are accompanied by some loss of visual function but this will vary depending upon the type of detachment, its size, and retinal location, making it difficult to ascribe one set of symptoms to the condition (Box 71.3). Diagnosing RD is complex with many qualifications. Abnormal vision is the only reliable symptom of RD. But the types of abnormal vision are large and varied: light flashes...

AIM To compare the frequency and site of visual field progression and changes in visual acuity in patients with normal pressure glaucoma (NPG) with and without pre-existing visual field loss. METHOD Patients with normal tension glaucoma were selected who had at least 10 visual fields over 5 or more years of follow up and no other condition that might influence the visual field or visual acuit...

The authors investigated the mechanisms underlying the head shaking shown by some patients with congenital nystagmus (CN). In order to improve visual function by head shaking, a patient with CN must have some visual acuity loss due to retinal image motion created by the nystagmus; an abnormal vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR); and the head shaking must be correlated with the nystagmus. The authors ...

Grating, vernier, and letter acuities were compared in 25 patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), whose Snellen visual acuities were better than 20/40, to address the mechanism of visual acuity loss. For these patients with RP, all three types of visual acuity were reduced to an equivalent degree from those of a control group of 10 age-similar, visually normal subjects. The findings indicate t...

This paper reviews non-standard, clinical vision tests that may be used to detect the earliest visual loss in age-related maculopathy (ARM), before fundus changes are detected. We recommend a clinical test battery for all patients aged 60 years and older, comprising low luminance/low contrast (SKILL) VA or low contrast VA, desaturated D-15 colour vision assessment, flicker perimetry, glare reco...

AIM To ascertain whether recovery of visual function in amblyopic eyes is likely to occur when the fellow eye is lost as a result of age related macular degeneration. METHODS The records of 465 patients with an established diagnosis of age related macular degeneration who had attended a specialist macular clinic between 1990 and 1998 were scrutinised. A full clinical examination and standardi...

tuberculosis is an infection which may influence many organs while ocular tuberculosis (tb) is amongst the rarest infectious diseases with no sign of systemic disease. a fifty-six-year- old female with complaint of gradual loss of visual acuity, weight loss, night sweats and purulent discharge from medial canthus and non-productive coughs. in general, tuberculosis in endemic areas, even the rar...

BACKGROUND/AIM The loss of short wavelength sensitive (SWS) cone mechanism sensitivity is related to severe vision loss in patients with age related maculopathy (ARM). A case-control study of patients with ARM and age matched controls was performed, using blue on yellow static perimetry. METHODS A bright yellow background at 594 nm isolated the responses of short wavelength cone mechanisms to...

Objective: Evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of cataract task forces for underprivileged communities, in a follow-up of 4 years, with the use of low price intraocular lens. Methods: Retrospective study, based on a database of a sample of 58 patients randomly selected, submitted to a cataract task force in a rural area of Pernambuco, Brazil. All surgeries were performed by the same surge...