title: Simple and objective method for routine detection of the macular pigment xanthophyll.
abstract: A new simple method for two-dimensional determination of optical density of macular pigment xanthophyll (ODx) in clinical routine is based on a single blue-reflection fundus image. Individual different vignetting is corrected by a shading function. For its construction, nodes are automatically found in structureless image regions. The influence of stray light in elderly crystalline lenses is compensated by a correction function that depends on age. The reproducibility of parameters in a one-wavelength reflection method determined for three subjects (47, 61, and 78 years old) was: maxODx = 6.3%, meanODx = 4.6%, volume = 6%, and area = 6% already before stray-light correction. ODx was comparable in pseudophakic and in an eye with a crystalline lens of the same 11 subjects after stray-light correction. Significant correlation in ODx was found between the one-wavelength reflection method and the two-wavelength autofluorescence method for pseudophakic and cataract eyes of 19 patients suffering from dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) (R(2) = 0.855). In pseudophakic eyes, maxODx was significantly lower for dry AMD (n = 45) (ODx = 0.491±0.102 ODU) than in eyes with healthy fundus (n = 22) (ODx = 0.615±0.103 ODU) (p = 0.000033). Also in eyes with crystalline lens, maxODx was lower in AMD (n = 125) (ODx = 0.610±0.093 ODU) than in healthy subjects (n = 45) (ODx = 0.674±0.098 ODU) (p = 0.00019). No dependence on age was found in the pseudophakic eyes both of healthy subjects and AMD patients.
authors.affiliation: Augenklinik der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Experimentelle Ophthalmologie Bachstrasse 18 07743 Jena, Germany. Dietrich.schweitzer@med.uni-jena.de
authors.forename: Dietrich
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schweitzer
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jentsch
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dawczynski
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hammer
authors.forename: Ute E K
authors.initials: UE
authors.lastname: Wolf-Schnurrbusch
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wolf
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012031:Refractometry / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D042262:Retinoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D024341:Xanthophylls / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D024341:Xanthophylls