A new colour vision arrangement test to detect functional changes in diabetic macular oedema.
OBJECTIVE
A study was undertaken to investigate the correlation between colour discrimination tests and the presence of macular oedema in patients with type I diabetes to find a sensitive diagnostic tool for the detection of early functional changes.


METHODS
The study was performed in 39 type I diabetic patients, 10 with and 29 without macular oedema. The examination included biomicroscopy, fundus photography of the macula, videofluorescein angiography, the LogMAR visual acuity chart, Farnsworth-Lanthony desaturated D-15 test, and the new Mollon-Reffin "Minimalist" test for colour vision deficiencies version 6.0.


RESULTS
A highly significant correlation was found between the tritan value of the Mollon test and the presence of clinically significant macular oedema (p<0.0015), with a high sensitivity (88.9%) and specificity (93.3%). The DD-15 test was not significant (p=0.345) and showed low sensitivity for the presence of macular oedema (36%). All variables concerning the grading of macular oedema showed a highly significant association with the tritan values of the Mollon test (p<0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that the Mollon-Reffin "Minimalist" test version 6.0 is the best colour discrimination test for detecting macular oedema, with higher specificity and sensitivity than the other methods used in the study.
Maár
N
N
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Vienna, Austria. Noemi.Maar@univie.ac.at
Tittl
M
M
Stur
M
M
Zajic
B
B
Reitner
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003119:Color Perception Tests / Q000379:methods*; D003117:Color Vision Defects / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D004487:Edema / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008266:Macula Lutea / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity