Acquired colour vision deficiency in subjects with ARMD and Diabetes

Abstract

Purpose Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world in people over the age of 50. Its prevalence increases with age as does diabetes. Such conditions affect the metabolic stability of the retina, resulting in non‐inflammatory damage to retinal structures, and finally retinopathy. These changes to the visual pathway result in colour vision loss and in general, diminished visual performance. The aim of this study was to quantify accurately using sensitive visual tests the severity of visual loss in subjects with ARMD and diabetes. Methods We investigated a large number of ARMD and Diabetic subjects with varying degrees of retinopathy and assessed their colour vision, achromatic high contrast acuity and flicker sensitivity under photopic and mesopic viewing conditions. Results Results show a loss of chromatic sensitivity in both the red‐green and yellow‐blue channels, more pronounced under mesopic viewing condition. It was observed that chromatic loss was not localised to the site of retinopathy but affected peripheral retina also. Flicker sensitivity and contrast acuity loss were also observed in all subjects diagnosed with the above conditions. Preliminary findings show that significant loss of chromatic and flicker sensitivity precedes structural changes in the retina as revealed in conventional fundus imaging. Conclusion The results so far suggest that loss of chromatic sensitivity is the most sensitive measure for detection of early damage in subjects with eye disease and can be used to detect and to monitor the progress of disease or the outcome of treatment.