Abstract
Purpose:
To compare the macular pigment optical density (MPOD) of eyes with sunset glow fundus in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease with the MPOD of eyes without retinal disease.<br />
Methods:
The MPOD of 19 eyes with sunset glow fundus of VKH was measured and compared with the MPOD of 25 eyes without any signs of retinal disease. None of subjects was under carotenoid supplementation. The MPOD was measured with Macular pigment screener (MPS II) from Elektron Technology.<br />
Results:
Eyes with sunset glow of VKH have significantly lower level of MPOD than eyes without retinal disease (0.486 ± 0.184 versus 0.625 ± 0.176, p = 0.016, Student’s t test). Thirteen eyes of 19 eyes were treated with initial steroid pulse therapy, 1000 mg of intravenous methylprednisolone for 3 days. Eyes with VKH not treated with initial steroid therapy have significantly lower level of MPOD than eyes with VKH treated with initial steroid therapy (0.257 ± 0.075 versus 0.592 ± 0.100, p < 0.001, Student t test), and there was no significant difference between the level of MPOD of eyes with VKH treated with initial steroid therapy and eyes without retinal disease (p = 0.551, Student t test) There was no significant correlation between MPOD and visual acuity in VKH patients (p = 0.064, Pearson’s correlation coefficient).<br />
Conclusions:
Inflammation decreased MPOD in patients with VKH. Initial steroid therapy prevented loss of MPOD in patients with VKH. But relation between loss of macular pigment and visual function remains unclear.<br />