Abstract
Purpose:
To assess ocular straylight values and spatial and temporal contrast sensitivity in HIV-positive patients compared with normal subjects
Methods:
75 HIV-positive patients, well controlled using cART, and 50 healthy, age and socio-economically matched controls were enrolled in this study. Participants with a history of retinitis or any other disease known to influence the retina were excluded. After exclusion, 63 HIV-positive patients and 39 controls were evaluated. Spatial contrast sensitivity was examined using the Pelli Robson (PR) chart. Ocular straylight was assessed with the Oculus C-Quant device. Temporal contrast sensitivity (TCS), as measure for retinal sensitivity without confounding by optics, was assessed with custom made software, implemented using the C-Quant hardware. Only one eye of each participant was selected for analysis
Results:
The patient group had a significantly lower PR score compared with the controls (1.89±0.1 vs 1.94±0.04 logCS; p=0.017) but no difference in TCS was found between both groups (2.13±0.16 vs 2.14±0.16 logTCS; p=0.753). Straylight values were significant higher in patients (1.19±0.18 vs 1.11±0.15 log(s); p=0.032)
Conclusions:
The higher straylight value might be attributed to media opacities, e.g. development of cataract, since HIV-positive patients have been reported to have a higher incidence of cataract surgery, caused possibly by accelerated aging. The discrepancy in PR scores and TCS values could be ascribed to the fact that PR outcome is influenced by both optical and retinal components, while TCS assesses purely retinal function
Keywords: 415 AIDS/HIV •
478 contrast sensitivity •
445 cataract