Impaired Reading Performance in Uveitis Associated Chronic Cystoid Macular Edema

Abstract

Abstract: : Purpose: To assess the reading performance of patients with chronic cystoid macular edema with respect to reading acuity, reading speed based on print size, maximal reading speed and critical print size (CPS). Methods: We examined 15 Patients with a history of uveitis associated chronic cystoid macular edema (CME) for 19.27 ±19.63 months (range 2-72 months). CME was verified by retinal thickness analyzer and optical coherence tomography. Patients with cataract LOCS >2, maculopathy, amblyopia or opacification of optic media were excluded. Best corrected LogMAR visual acuity was determined with ETDRS-charts. Reading acuity and reading speed were tested monocularly in both eyes (CME or normal control). Reading acuity was determined in LogRAD (=reading equivalent of LogMAR). Reading speed was measured using a stop watch and calculated in words per minute (wpm). Eyes with CME were statistically compared to healthy control eyes with SPSS for Windows Version 10.0. Results: CME eyes achieved a mean LogMAR of 0.27 ±0.18 whereas the normal fellow eyes showed a mean LogMAR of -0.03 ±0.13. Reading acuity was LogRAD 0.43 ±0.17 (78% of LogMAR) in eyes with chronic CME versus LogRAD 0.03 ±0.12 (95% of LogMAR) in the control eyes (p=0.01). The mean reading speed was 141.06 ±31.9 wpm in the CME eyes versus 174.32 ±29.3 wpm (p<0.02) in the normal controls and the mean CPS was 0.72 in CME eyes versus 0.23 in the control eyes (p<0.001 ). Conclusions: Eyes with CME showed a reduced reading acuity and speed. Reading acuity of CME eyes was significantly worse than their LogMAR distance acuity, indicating that distance acuity alone does not show the full functional impairment of eyes with chronic CME in non-infectious uveitis.

Keywords: reading • uveitis-clinical/animal model • macula/fovea