title: Illuminated near card assessment of potential visual acuity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the accuracy of predicting potential visual acuity in patients having neodymium:YAG (Nd:YAG) laser capsulotomy using a new device, the illuminated near card (INC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Private practice, New York, New York.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-eight consecutive patients having Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy were studied prospectively by comparing the postoperative distance Snellen acuity to the visual acuity obtained preoperatively using (1) a near reading card, (2) the INC, and (3) the INC viewed through a pinhole.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients reported that the INC was easy to use; none with a visual acuity better than 20/200 had difficulty finding the illuminated letters through the pinhole. In eyes with a precapsulotomy distance acuity of better than 20/200, the correlation between precapsulotomy and postcapsulotomy acuities was statistically significant (P < .001) for the INC viewed through the pinhole. A significant correlation between precapsulotomy and postoperative acuities was not found for the INC viewed alone or for the near card (P > .05). In patients with a precapsulotomy distance acuity of 20/200 or worse, the INC with pinhole, the INC, or the near card did not predict postoperative acuity (P > .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In eyes with a precapsulotomy distance acuity better than 20/200, the INC with pinhole predicted postoperative distance acuity within one Snellen line in 97% of eyes (29/30), which is comparable to reports using other potential acuity testers. The INC viewed through a pinhole improves image resolution by the stenopaic hole without the low light intensity of the reduced aperture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hofeldt
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002386:Cataract / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002387:Cataract Extraction; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D007903:Lens Capsule, Crystalline / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014787:Vision Tests / Q000379:methods*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*