What's the Best Way to Measure Vision After Eye Surgery?

When a patient suffers a "macula-off" retinal detachment, a serious condition where the light-sensing part of the eye peels away, surgery can reattach the retina and save the patient’s sight. But how do we know if the patient's vision has truly improved? What are the best ways to measure the success of the surgery?

This is the question our research, "An Evaluation of the Repeatability of Visual Function Following Surgical Repair of Macula-Off Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment," sought to answer.

We know that visual acuity (the ability to read letters on an eye chart) is important, but it doesn't tell the whole story. Many patients report other issues like problems with night vision, reading speed, or contrast sensitivity, even after a successful surgery. Our study evaluated a wide range of these different tests to see which ones were the most reliable and consistent for measuring a patient’s vision long-term.

We found that Best-Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA), measured with the standard eye chart (ETDRS), was highly reliable and reproducible. In other words, if you measure a patient's vision with this test on two different days, you get very similar results. This makes it a strong primary measure for clinical trials and patient care.

We also found other tests, such as those for low-luminance visual acuity (night vision) and reading speed, may also be useful as secondary measures. These tests showed larger differences between the detached eye and the healthy eye, which means they are better at detecting subtle improvements or differences in visual function that might not be captured by a standard eye chart.

This research provides a roadmap for ophthalmologists and researchers, helping them choose the best tests to measure visual outcomes after retinal detachment surgery.

For more information, please see the full publication here.