Abstract

Can flicker sensitivity testing be used to detect early stages of retinal dysfunction which eventually lead to exudative age-related maculopathy (ARM)? As a first approximation to answering this question, we tested whether flicker sensitivity of the "good" eye of patients with monocular exudative ARM can be discriminated from age-matched healthy eyes. We define these "good" eyes as ARM-risk because exudative ARM is usually binocular, but a few years may elapse between appearance of symptoms in the first and second eye.^1,2 Early detection would facilitate early treatment with known methods, i.e. laser surgery to limit the extent of visual loss, and may prove useful in the evaluation of potential treatment methods.

© 1991 Optical Society of America