Abstract
Purpose: :
Previous studies (1) have shown that higher order wavefront aberrations may affect central visual function in Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of wavefront aberrations in patients with Stargardt macular dystrophy (SMD)
Methods: :
Wavefront aberrations were measured by Hartmann-Shack aberrometry in 14 eyes of 7 patients with SR (mean age: 30.1 yrs ±13.8 SD) and in 11 eyes of 6 age-similar visually normal control subjects (mean age: 32.2 yrs ± 15.0 SD). All patients were submitted to complete ophthalmological examination, including best spectacle corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), slit-lamp biomicroscopy, fundus examination, standard Ganzfeld and focal ERG (FERG). Wavefront aberrations for 3 mm and 6 mm pupil diameters were defined as the root mean square (RMS)of the wavefront aberration functions. Exclusion criteria were previous ocular surgery, cataract, glaucoma or other ocular pathologies affecting vision.
Results: :
Clinical and FERG examinations confirmed the diagnosis of SMD in the study group (mean FERG phase: -0.05 rad ± 0.50 SD; mean FERG amplitude: 0.29 µV ± 0.47 SD). The mean RMS for higher order wavefront aberrations was not significantly different for patients with SMD (Spherical: -0.14 ± 0.13 SD; coma: -0.06 ± 0.21 SD; total HOA: 0.24 ± 0.10 SD) compared to the control subjects (Spherical: -0.21 ± 0.10 SD; coma: 0.06 ± 0.26 SD; total HOA: 0.24 ± 0.09 SD).
Conclusions: :
No significant differences in the measurement of wavefront aberrations were detected in SMD patients compared to control subjects. These findings suggest that, unlike that observed in RP (1), wavefront aberrations do not contribute to visual dysfunction in SMD.1. Higher-Order Wavefront Aberrations in Retinitis Pigmentosa. Rajagopalan AS, Shahidi M, Alexander KR, Fishman GA, Zelkha R. Optom Vis Sci 2005; 82: 623-628.
Keywords: optical properties • aberrations • retinal degenerations: hereditary