Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To determine the age and visual acuity at the initial examination of patients with occult macular dystrophy (OMD), an inherited macular dystrophy characterized by a progressive macular dysfunction without any visible fundus abnormality. Methods: Twenty-five patients with OMD (14 men and 11 women) seen were studied. The diagnosis of the OMD was based on a normal fundus, normal fluorescein angiogram, normal full-field ERG, and abnormal focal macular cone ERGs or multifocal ERGs. The age of the symptom onset, the age at the initial visit, corrected visual acuity, and visual symptoms were investigated based on the medical records. Results: The age of the symptom onset ranged from 10 to 69 (mean; 40.8 years), and 72% of patients had their first visual symptom between 31-60 years. The age at the initial examination ranged from 11 to 70 years (mean; 45.9 years), and 68% of patients visited the hospital between the ages of 31-60 years. Ninety-two percent of the OMD patients had visual symptoms in both eyes at the initial visit. The corrected visual acuity at the initial visit ranged from 20/15 to 20/200 (mean Log MAR, 0.38). Fifty-two percent of the eyes had a corrected visual acuity better than 20/40. Only 2 patients (8%) had differences in the visual acuity between two eyes of more than 0.5 log MAR. The common visual symptoms at the initial visit were reduced visual acuity (96%) and photophobia (16%). Conclusions: In most of the cases of OMD, the initial visual symptom occurs between 31 and 60 with bilateral involvement. At the initial visit, the visual acuity is moderately reduced with minimal difference between two eyes.
Keywords: degenerations/dystrophies • electroretinography: clinical • visual acuity