AMD: Reading ability crucial indicator of functional loss
Study of the University of Bonn on functional tests in atrophic age-
related macular degeneration

Date:
September 30, 2021
Source:
University of Bonn
Summary:
In geographic atrophy, a late form of age-related macular
degeneration (AMD), reading ability is closely related to the
altered retinal structure. Reading speed makes everyday functional
impairment measurable, which the most common functional test in
ophthalmology -- the best- corrected visual acuity assessment -
cannot reflect. Retinal imaging can be used to assess loss of
reading ability even when central visual acuity is still good.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
In geographic atrophy, a late form of age-related macular degeneration
(AMD), reading ability is closely related to the altered retinal
structure. This has been demonstrated by researchers from the Department
of Ophthalmology at the University Hospital Bonn with colleagues at
the National Eye Institute and the University of Utah. Reading speed
makes everyday functional impairment measurable, which the most common functional test in ophthalmology -- the best- corrected visual acuity assessment -- cannot reflect. Retinal imaging can be used to assess loss
of reading ability even when central visual acuity is still good. The
study has now appeared in JAMA Ophthalmology.


==========================================================================
As the proportion of older people grows, the number of patients
with geographic atrophy (GA) also increases. This is a late form
of age-related macular degeneration. The retinal disease leads to
considerable limitations, among other things in reading or recognizing
faces. So far it is not treatable.

Everyday functional tests are important to assess the success of possible therapeutic approaches. "However, conventional functional tests such as
visual acuity do not capture all the dismal functional consequences of the diesease," explains Prof. Dr. Frank G. Holz, Director of the Department
of Ophthalmology at the University of Bonn. "Therefore, it is crucial
to explore further functional assessments, such as reading performance."
This is where the study initiated by Prof. Monika Fleckenstein comes in, investigating the correlation of reading ability with retinal findings in
85 participants with geographic atrophy. "Especially patients in whom the
site of sharpest vision is not yet affected still show good visual acuity
in clinical examinations," first author Sandrine Ku"nzel reports from
clinical practice at the University Eye Hospital in Bonn. "Nevertheless,
they sometimes report severe limitations in their daily life, which
also encompass reduced reading ability." This finding has now been
confirmed by the study. Both reading ability and reading speed proved to
be important functional tests for clinical therapy studies. In contrast,
the suspected phenomenon of "binocular inhibition" -- a negative influence
of the worse-seeing eye during reading -- did not show up.

Thus, future therapeutic approaches should focus primarily on the
better-seeing eye to achieve an overall improvement in visual ability. "We
were able to contribute to the understanding of reading ability and its
role as a study endpoint," said Priv.-Doz. Dr. Maximilian Pfau of the University Eye Hospital in Bonn, who is currently a fellow of the German Research Foundation (DFG) at the National Eye Institute in Bethesda (USA).

The study was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the
German Ophthalmological Society, and the BONFOR program of the Medical
Faculty of the University of Bonn.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Bonn. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Sandrine H. Ku"nzel, Moritz Lindner, Josua Sassen, Philipp
T. Mo"ller,
Lukas Goerdt, Matthias Schmid, Steffen Schmitz-Valckenberg, Frank G.

Holz, Monika Fleckenstein, Maximilian Pfau. Association of Reading
Performance in Geographic Atrophy Secondary to Age-Related Macular
Degeneration With Visual Function and Structural Biomarkers. JAMA
Ophthalmology, 2021; DOI: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2021.3826 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210930134803.htm

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