Abstract
Purpose:
To quantify BCEA in different diseases and to evaluate its change after rehabilitation with microperimetric biofeedback.
Methods:
64 patients (38 female and 26 male, mean age 75.87 years) were enrolled and 96 eyes were divided into different groups: 16 eyes with dry age-related macular degeneration (group 1), 12 eyes with advanced glaucoma (group 2), 11 eyes with central retinal vein occlusion (group 3), 11 eyes after surgery for macula-off retinal detachment (group 4), 11 eyes with amblyopia (group 5), 13 eyes with myopic maculopathy (group 6), 12 eyes with diabetic maculopathy (group 7), 10 eyes with retinitis pigmentosa (group 8). All the patients underwent the same rehabilitative protocol: microperimetry MP-1 (Nidek technologies, Padova, Italia), threshold strategy 4-2, Goldmann III stimolus, with fixation study that was quantified by calculating the BCEA; 10 training sessions, once a week, 10 minutes for each eye, with microperimetric biofeedback, repeated after 3 months. Statistical analysis was performed using t-test paired, p values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. For statistical analysis, BCEA values (deg ) were converted into their logarithms.
Results:
After the training mean BCEA became from 7.51±2.48 deg to 3.85±2.93 deg in group 1 (p=0.02); mean BCEA became from 4.02±2.83 deg to 0.84±0.48 deg in group 2 (p=0.14); mean BCEA became from 3.72±4.85 deg to 2.18±2.22 deg in group 3 (p=0.42); mean BCEA became from 3.31±2.53 deg to 2.15±1.59 deg in group 4 (p=0.03); mean BCEA became from 3.18±2.55 deg to 2.15±1.32 deg in group 5 (p=0.06); mean BCEA became from 2.22±2.65 deg to 0.45±0.13 deg in group 6 (p=0.05); mean BCEA became from 3.38±3.42 deg to 1.72±1.72 deg in group 7 (p=0.02); mean BCEA became from 1.89±1.40 deg to 0.77±0.26 deg in group 8 (p=0.14).
Conclusions:
The largest BCEA reduction after the training indicates a greater efficacy of microperimetric biofeedback especially in dry age-related macular degeneration, after surgery for macula-off retinal detachment, myopic maculopathy and diabetic maculopathy compared to glaucoma, central retinal vein occlusion, amblyopia and retinitis pigmentosa. The study of BCEA is useful and more sensitive instrument than Fujii classification to evaluate the stability of fixation especially in diseases with macular involvement.
Keywords: 584 low vision •
650 plasticity