[Investigation of color vision in acute unilateral optic neuritis using a web based color vision test]
BACKGROUND In acute unilateral optic neuritis (ON) color vision defects combined with a decrease in visual acuity and contrast sensitivity frequently occur. This study investigated whether a web based color vision test is a reliable detector of acquired color vision defects in ON and, if so, which charts are particularly suitable. METHODS In 12 patients with acute unilateral ON, a web based color vision test www.farbsehtest.de with 25 color plates (16 Velhagen/Broschmann and 9 Ishihara color plates) was performed. For each patient the affected eye was tested first and then the unaffected eye. RESULTS The mean best corrected distance visual acuity (BCDVA) in the ON eye was 0.36 0.20 and 1.0 0.1 in the contralateral eye. The number of incorrectly read plates correlated with the visual acuity. For the ON eye a total of 134 plates were correctly identified and 166 plates were incorrectly identified, while for the disease free fellow eye, 276 plates were correctly identified and 24 plates were incorrectly identified. Both of the blue/yellow plates were identified correctly 14 times and incorrectly 10 times using the ON eye and exclusively correctly (24 times) using the fellow eye. The Velhagen/Broschmann plates were incorrectly identified significantly more frequently in comparison with the Ishihara plates. In 4 out of 16 Velhagen/Broschmann plates and 5 out of 9 Ishihara plates, no statistically significant differences between the ON eye and the fellow eye could be detected. CONCLUSION The number of incorrectly identified plates correlated with a decrease in visual acuity. Red/green and blue/yellow plates were incorrectly identified significantly more frequently with the ON eye, while the Velhagen/Broschmann color plates were incorrectly identified significantly more frequently than the Ishihara color plates. Thus, under defined test conditions the web based color vision test can also be used to detect acquired color vision defects, such as those caused by ON. Optimization of the test by altering the combination of plates may be a useful next step.
Der Ophthalmologe Zeitschrift der Deutschen Ophthalmologischen Gesellschaft