Delayed regeneration of foveal cone photopigments in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease at the convalescent stage.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the physiological characteristics of the macula in patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease during the convalescent stage with specific reference to the kinetics of foveal cone photopigment regeneration.


METHODS
Six eyes of three patients at the convalescent stage of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease were studied. All the eyes had best corrected visual acuity of 1.0 or better and had had no recurrence of inflammation for at least 12 months after the last episode. Foveal cone densitometry (FCD), focal macular electroretinograms, color vision tests, two-color perimetry, and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were performed.


RESULTS
No regeneration of cone photopigments was detected within the 7-minute testing time by FCD in all eyes at the first examination after the last episode. However, the other functional tests were normal, and the OCT-determined macular morphology was also normal. The regeneration kinetics of the foveal cone photopigment improved in three of six eyes at 36, 37, and 19 months after the last episode, whereas the other three remained delayed at 18, 18, and 49 months.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that a disorder of the foveal cone photopigment regeneration, and its recovery, requires a significantly longer time than that of other macular functions in some patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease.
Okamoto
Yoko
Y
Department of Ophthalmology, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan. okamotoy@med.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Miyake
Yozo
Y
Horio
Naoichi
N
Takakuwa
Hideo
H
Yamamoto
Etsuko
E
Terasaki
Hiroko
H
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002452:Cell Count; D003119:Color Perception Tests; D003289:Convalescence; D004596:Electroretinography; D005260:Female; D005584:Fovea Centralis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012038:Regeneration; D017949:Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D017299:Rod Opsins / Q000502:physiology*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014607:Uveomeningoencephalitic Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014792:Visual Acuity; D058609:Visual Field Tests
D017299:Rod Opsins