Research News

Investigating perifoveal function in patients with North Carolina Macular Dystrophy

Janet Szlyk PhD and William Seiple PhD recently reported results from their investigation of perifoveal function in patients with North Carolina Macular Dystrophy (NCMD), so named because it was first found in North Carolina . NCMD is an eye condition that children are born with that affects the macula, the central part of the retina NCMD is a genetic disease. In NCMD, the genetic code is misprinted, leading to irregular function of the macula. The disease may cause blurred vision in children at an early age. In some cases, children may avoid bright lights and may suffer from reduced vision.

The objective of the experiments was to assess the extent of visual function losses in NCMD patients.

In this study, five patients affected by NCMD, from the same family, were examined. Using scientific techniques, the acuity and luminance of the patients’ vision were observed throughout central retina. Also, the visual accuracy across various areas on the retina was compared to other areas.

The findings show that apart from the area of macula with lesions, vision loss was observed throughout the central retina. These findings indicate that though NCMD is a disease of the macula it has widespread impact on the retina. The findings also have important implications for clinical testing of NCMD.

The findings from this study were published in the April 2006 issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.

by Poornima Krishnan

Full citation: Seiple W.  Szlyk JP.  Paliga J.  Rabb MF. Perifoveal function in patients with North Carolina macular dystrophy: the importance of accounting for fixation locus. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2006 Apr;47(4):1703-9.