PMID- 29228250
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20171215
LR  - 20181113
IS  - 1552-5783 (Electronic)
IS  - 0146-0404 (Print)
IS  - 0146-0404 (Linking)
VI  - 58
IP  - 14
DP  - 2017 Dec 1
TI  - Higher Contrast Requirement for Letter Recognition and Macular RGC+ Layer 
      Thinning in Glaucoma Patients and Older Adults.
PG  - 6221-6231
LID - 10.1167/iovs.17-22621 [doi]
AB  - PURPOSE: Growing evidence suggests the involvement of the macula even in early 
      stages of glaucoma. However, little is known about the impact of glaucomatous 
      macular damage on central pattern vision. Here we examine the contrast 
      requirement for letter recognition and its relationship with retinal thickness in 
      the macular region. METHODS: A total of 40 participants were recruited: 13 
      patients with glaucoma (mean age = 65.6 +/- 6.6 years), 14 age-similar normally 
      sighted adults (59.1 +/- 9.1 years), and 13 young normally sighted adults (21.0 +/- 
      2.0 years). For each participant, letter-recognition contrast thresholds were 
      obtained using a letter recognition task in which participants identified English 
      letters presented at varying retinal locations across the central 12 degrees  visual 
      field, including the fovea. The macular retinal ganglion cell plus inner 
      plexiform (RGC+) layer thickness was also evaluated using spectral-domain optical 
      coherence tomography (SD-OCT). RESULTS: Compared to age-similar normal controls, 
      glaucoma patients exhibited a significant increase in letter-recognition contrast 
      thresholds (by 236%, P < 0.001) and a significant decrease in RGC+ layer 
      thickness (by 17%, P < 0.001) even after controlling for age, pupil diameter, and 
      visual acuity. Compared to normal young adults, older adults showed a significant 
      increase in letter-recognition contrast thresholds and a significant decrease in 
      RGC+ layer thickness. Across all subjects, the thickness of macular RGC+ layer 
      was significantly correlated with letter-recognition contrast thresholds, even 
      after correcting for pupil diameter and visual acuity (r = -0.65, P < 0.001). 
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that both glaucoma and normal aging likely bring 
      about a thinning of the macular RGC+ layer; the macular RGC+ layer thickness 
      appears to be associated with the contrast requirements for letter recognition in 
      central vision.
FAU - Chien, Lillian
AU  - Chien L
AD  - Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at 
      Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States.
FAU - Liu, Rong
AU  - Liu R
AD  - Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at 
      Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States.
FAU - Girkin, Christopher
AU  - Girkin C
AD  - Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at 
      Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States.
FAU - Kwon, MiYoung
AU  - Kwon M
AD  - Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at 
      Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States.
LA  - eng
GR  - R01 EY027857/EY/NEI NIH HHS/United States
PT  - Comparative Study
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - United States
TA  - Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci
JT  - Investigative ophthalmology & visual science
JID - 7703701
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Aged
MH  - Female
MH  - Glaucoma/diagnosis/*physiopathology
MH  - Humans
MH  - Macula Lutea/*pathology
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Pattern Recognition, Visual/*physiology
MH  - Reading
MH  - Retinal Ganglion Cells/*pathology
MH  - Tomography, Optical Coherence/*methods
MH  - *Visual Acuity
MH  - *Visual Fields
MH  - Young Adult
PMC - PMC5724554
EDAT- 2017/12/12 06:00
MHDA- 2017/12/16 06:00
PMCR- 2017/12/01
CRDT- 2017/12/12 06:00
PHST- 2017/12/12 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2017/12/12 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2017/12/16 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2017/12/01 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 2666225 [pii]
AID - IOVS-17-22621 [pii]
AID - 10.1167/iovs.17-22621 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2017 Dec 1;58(14):6221-6231. doi: 
      10.1167/iovs.17-22621.