Vision defects in albinism.

We have examined the possible presence of color vision anomalies in 9 individuals (17 eyes, 1 blind) with fundus findings suggesting ocular albinism using the Ishihara plates, the 28-hue Roth test, and the Davico anomaloscope. Results indicate that four of these individuals show no sign of the anomalies expected in an albino in either of the two eyes. Of the remaining cases, two are simple deuteranomals in both eyes, according to Pickford's classification criteria. The rest have protanomaly; however, in these the deviation toward red appears in both eyes in only one subject, whereas in the other two subjects it appears in only one eye, their binocular color vision being basically normal. Our study shows that a large proportion of these albinos have photophobia, pendular nystagmus, strabismus, noticeable refractive errors (astigmatism and high myopia), and poor visual acuity [usually less than 6/30 (20/100) with correction]. The measurement of contrast sensitivity function (CSF) indicates that the frequency of 12 cpd cannot be perceived, even in binocular vision.