PurposeTo determine which factors affect the recovery of visual function in macula off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD).MethodsIn a prospective study of forty-five patients with a primary macula-off RRD of 24 hours to 6 weeks duration, the height of the macular detachment was determined by ultrasonography. At 12 months postoperatively, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), contrast acuity, and color confusion indexes (CCI) were obtained.ResultsMacular detachment was present for 2–32 (median 7) days before repair. A shorter duration of macular detachment was correlated with a better CCI saturé (p = 0.0026) and lower LogMAR BCVA (better Snellen visual acuity)(p = 0.012). Also, a smaller height of macular detachment was correlated with a lower LogMAR BCVA (p = 0.0034). A younger age and lower pre-operative LogMAR BCVA at presentation were both correlated with better postoperative contrast acuity in the total group (age: p = 1.7×10−4 and pre-operative LogMAR BCVA: p = 0.0034).ConclusionFunctional recovery after macula-off RRD is affected by the duration and the height of the macular detachment. Recovery of contrast acuity is also affected by age and BCVA at presentation.Meeting presentationARVO annual meeting 2013, May 7, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.Trial registration:trialregister.nl NTR839

PurposeTo measure the nerve-head to fovea distance (NFD) on fundus photographs in fellow eyes, and to compare the NFD between fellow eyes.MethodsDiabetic patients without retinopathy, (n = 183) who were screened by fundus photography at the University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands from January 1st 2005 until January 1st 2006 were included. The NFD was measured in left and right eyes both from the center and from the rim of the nerve-head. To determine inter- and intra-observer agreement, repeated measurements by one observer (n = 3) were performed on all photographs and by two observers on 60 photographs (30 paired eyes). The effect of age, gender, and refractive error on NFD was analysed.ResultsThe correlation of NFDs between the left and the right eye was 0.958 when measured from the center of the nerve head (mean difference 0.0078 mm. ±SD 0.079 (95% limits of agreement −0.147–0.163)) and 0.963 when measured from the rim (mean difference 0.0056±SD 0.073 (95% limits of agreement −0.137–0.149)). Using the NFD between fellow eyes interchangeably, resulted in a standard error of 0.153 mm. Intra- and inter-observer variability was small. We found a significant effect of age (center of the nerve-head (P = 0.006) and rim of the nerve head (P = 0.003)) and refractive error (center of nerve-head (P<0.001) and rim of nerve head (P<0.001)) on NFD.ConclusionsThe NFD in one eye provides a confident, reproducible, and valid method to address the position of the fovea in the fellow eye. We recommend using the NFD measured from the center of the nerve-head since the standard error by this method was smallest. Age and refractive error have an effect on NFD.