PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship of age-related maculopathy, cataract, and glaucoma to visual acuity in the population-based Beaver Dam Eye Study. METHODS: A cross-sectional, population-based study was performed in people 43 through 86 years of age residing in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, who were identified between 1987 and 1988 and examined (n = 4926) between 1988 and 1990. Of those who participated, 99.4% were white. Visual acuity was measured (n = 4886) using a modification of the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study protocol. Stereoscopic color fundus photographs and slit lamp and retroillumination photographs of the lens were graded in a masked fashion using standardized protocols to determine the presence of age-related maculopathy and central cataract. RESULTS: Fifty-seven percent of those who were legally blind had late age-related maculopathy in both eyes. The frequency of visual acuity of 20/200 or worse was not significantly different in eyes with exudative macular degeneration (48%) than in eyes with pure geographic atrophy (42%). While controlling for other factors (age, central cataract, and glaucoma) in participants with both gradable age-related maculopathy and visual acuity measurable in at least one eye (n = 4716), investigators found that each of the early age-related maculopathy lesions was associated with a decrease in visual acuity of approximately two letters or fewer when compared to eyes without these lesions. Late age-related maculopathy was associated with a decrease of approximately seven lines of letters read correctly. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate that exudative macular degeneration and pure geographic atrophy are the most important causes of legal blindness in this population and that early age-related maculopathy, central cataract, and glaucoma had a small effect on visual acuity.
PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship of age-related maculopathy, cataract, and glaucoma to visual acuity in the population-based Beaver Dam Eye Study. METHODS: A cross-sectional, population-based study was performed in people 43 through 86 years of age residing in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, who were identified between 1987 and 1988 and examined (n = 4926) between 1988 and 1990. Of those who participated, 99.4% were white. Visual acuity was measured (n = 4886) using a modification of the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study protocol. Stereoscopic color fundus photographs and slit lamp and retroillumination photographs of the lens were graded in a masked fashion using standardized protocols to determine the presence of age-related maculopathy and central cataract. RESULTS: Fifty-seven percent of those who were legally blind had late age-related maculopathy in both eyes. The frequency of visual acuity of 20/200 or worse was not significantly different in eyes with exudative macular degeneration (48%) than in eyes with pure geographic atrophy (42%). While controlling for other factors (age, central cataract, and glaucoma) in participants with both gradable age-related maculopathy and visual acuity measurable in at least one eye (n = 4716), investigators found that each of the early age-related maculopathy lesions was associated with a decrease in visual acuity of approximately two letters or fewer when compared to eyes without these lesions. Late age-related maculopathy was associated with a decrease of approximately seven lines of letters read correctly. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate that exudative macular degeneration and pure geographic atrophy are the most important causes of legal blindness in this population and that early age-related maculopathy, central cataract, and glaucoma had a small effect on visual acuity.
Authors: James H Schick; Sudha K Iyengar; Barbara E Klein; Ronald Klein; Karlie Reading; Rachel Liptak; Christopher Millard; Kristine E Lee; Sandra C Tomany; Emily L Moore; Bonnie A Fijal; Robert C Elston Journal: Am J Hum Genet Date: 2003-04-24 Impact factor: 11.025
Authors: Vera L Bonilha; Brent A Bell; Mary E Rayborn; Ivy S Samuels; Anna King; Joe G Hollyfield; Chengsong Xie; Huaibin Cai Journal: Free Radic Biol Med Date: 2017-01-11 Impact factor: 7.376