Healthy and pathological visual aging in a French follow-up cohort study

Abstract

Purpose : Visual aging leads to multiscale changes, from the structures of the eye to sensory transduction, neural transmission, and perception. Also, visuo-cognitive alterations impact visual perception, as demonstrated in divided-attention and visuo-spatial tasks. The French cohort study SilverSight assesses anatomic and functional changes induced by healthy and pathological visual aging, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. The goal is to understand the relationships between retinal cellular changes (e.g., anatomical and physiological modifications measured with high-resolution adaptive optics retina imaging) and visual symptoms, to identify functional biomarkers of normal and pathological aging.

Methods : The SilverSight cohort targets a population of 400 voluntary participants: 350 healthy subjects and 50 AMD patients. Notably, all enrolled participants undergo a deep multidimensional screening (Figure 1), involving ophthalmological, visual, audio-vestibular, sensorimotor, cognitive, and neuropsychological examinations. We also administer a series of standardized questionnaires and patient-reported outcomes to quantify vision related quality of life and autonomy. All clinical and functional measures are conducted at the National Eye Hospital CHNO des Quinze-Vingts, Paris. The longitudinal follow-up of the SilverSight cohort study is done on a yearly basis.

Results : Since 2015, 364 subjects were screened. Healthy participants are distributed across 3 age groups: 18-40yo (N=140), 41-64yo (N=60), and >65yo (N=158). 25 early- and 25 intermediate-stage AMD patients, as defined by the AREDS grades 2-5 and grades 6-9 in the enrollment eye, are being screened. All data are centralized in a connected anonymized database (eCRF SilverSight), made available for multicenter cohort studies.

Conclusions : The multidimensional screening realized by the SilverSight follow-up cohort study provides a unique database to better understanding the impact of aging on vision and has the potential to uncover cross-causal functional signatures of pathogenic aging mechanisms.

This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.

 

Figure 1. Multidimensional clinical and functional measures assessed by the SilverSight cohort study.