An Evaluation of the Repeatability of Visual Function Following Surgical Repair of Macula-Off Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment

PURPOSE: To evaluate the reliability and reproducibility of visual function assessments for patients with macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD). METHODS: This prospective study included patients with unilateral macula-off RRD of <10-day duration successfully treated with a single, uncomplicated surgery at least 1 year following repair. Visual function assessments were performed at time of enrollment and 1 month later. Testing included Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), low-luminance visual acuity (LLVA), low-contrast visual acuity (VA) 2.5% and 5%, contrast sensitivity assessment with Mars and Gabor patches, reading speed (acuity, speed, and critical print size), color vision testing (protan, deutan, and tritan), and microperimetry. Spectral-domain ocular coherence tomography (SD-OCT) was performed. Paired t-statistics were used to compare values between visits and between the study and fellow eyes. RESULTS: Fourteen patients (9 male, 5 female) with a mean age of 69 years at time of surgery were evaluated. Correlation coefficients across the two visits were highest for ETDRS BCVA (0.97), tritan color vision testing (0.96), and low-contrast VA 5% (0.96), while the average t-statistic was largest for low-luminance deficit (4.2), ETDRS BCVA (4.1), and reading speed critical print size (3.7). ETDRS BCVA did not correlate with SD-OCT findings. CONCLUSIONS: ETDRS BCVA can be considered a highly reliable and reproducible outcome measure. LLVA, protan color discrimination, contrast sensitivity, and reading speed may be useful secondary outcome measures. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: This study provides guidance on the selection of visual function outcome measures for clinical trials of patients with macula-off RRD.