Slow photostress recovery and disease severity in age-related macular degeneration.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether photostress recovery time varies with severity of disease in age-related macular degeneration.


METHODS
Photostress recovery time, visual acuity, and foveal retinal pigment epithelial atrophy were evaluated for the fellow eyes of 133 patients with unilateral neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Recovery times were measured by a method that flashed letters on a computer screen in random order before and after a 10 second bleach.


RESULTS
Recovery times were delayed in 62% of the patients (including 47% of those with normal visual acuity), ranged up to 6 times the normal limit, and increased with advancing age (P < 0.0001). Photostress recovery time was inversely correlated with visual acuity (P < 0.0001) and longer in eyes with visible atrophy than in eyes without atrophy (P = 0.0007). Significant relationships between these two pairs of measures were also found after controlling for age.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings support previous evidence that the time for visual recovery after exposure to a glare source is commonly slowed in age-related macular degeneration even among patients with normal visual acuity and further show that it can vary with age and extent of disease.
Sandberg
M A
MA
Berman-Gund Laboratory for the Study of Retinal Degenerations, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston 02114, USA.
Gaudio
A R
AR
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001284:Atrophy; D003623:Dark Adaptation; D005260:Female; D005584:Fovea Centralis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D010857:Pigment Epithelium of Eye / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014787:Vision Tests; D014792:Visual Acuity