Project description:Background and purposeWe aimed to assess whether early resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) changes measured via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) could predict recovery from visual field defect (VFD) in acute stroke patients.MethodsPatients with VFD due to acute ischemic stroke in the visual cortex and age-matched healthy controls were prospectively enrolled. Serial resting-state (RS)-fMRI and Humphrey visual field (VF) tests were performed within 1 week and at 1 and 3 months (additional VF test at 6 months) after stroke onset in the patient group. The control group also underwent RS-fMRI and a Humphrey VF test. The changes in RSFCs and VF scores (VFSs) over time and their correlations were investigated.ResultsIn 32 patients (65±10 years, 25 men), the VFSs were lower and the interhemispheric RSFC in the visual cortices was decreased compared to the control group (n=15, 62±6 years, seven men). The VFSs and interhemispheric RSFC in the visual cortex increased mainly within the first month after stroke onset. The interhemispheric RSFC and VFSs were positively correlated at 1 month after stroke onset. Moreover, the interhemispheric RSFCs in the visual cortex within 1 week were positively correlated with the follow-up VFSs.ConclusionsInterhemispheric RSFCs in the visual cortices within 1 week after stroke onset may be a useful biomarker to predict long-term VFD recovery.
Project description:Post-chiasmatic damage to the visual system leads to homonymous visual field defects (HVDs), which can severely interfere with daily life activities. Visual Restitution Training (VRT) can recover parts of the affected visual field in patients with chronic HVDs, but training outcome is variable. An untested hypothesis suggests that training potential may be largest in regions with 'neural reserve', where cortical responses to visual stimulation do not lead to visual awareness as assessed by Humphrey perimetry-a standard behavioural visual field test. Here, we tested this hypothesis in a sample of twenty-seven hemianopic stroke patients, who participated in an assiduous 80-hour VRT program. For each patient, we collected Humphrey perimetry and wide-field fMRI-based retinotopic mapping data prior to training. In addition, we used Goal Attainment Scaling to assess whether personal activities in daily living improved. After training, we assessed with a second Humphrey perimetry measurement whether the visual field was improved and evaluated which personal goals were attained. Confirming the hypothesis, we found significantly larger improvements of visual sensitivity at field locations with neural reserve. These visual field improvements implicated both regions in primary visual cortex and higher order visual areas. In addition, improvement in daily life activities correlated with the extent of visual field enlargement. Our findings are an important step toward understanding the mechanisms of visual restitution as well as predicting training efficacy in stroke patients with chronic hemianopia.
Project description:BackgroundTo evaluate vision-related and health-related quality of life (VRQoL, HRQoL) in first stroke patients with homonymous visual field defects (VFD) with respect to the extent of the lesion. Since VFD occur in approximately 10% of stroke patients the main purpose of the study was to investigate the additional impact of VFD in stroke patients hypothesizing that VFD causes diminished VRQoL.MethodsIn 177 first stroke patients with persisting VFD 2.5 years after posterior-parietal lesions VRQoL was assessed by the National-Eye-Institute-Visual-Functioning-Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ) and HRQoL by the Medical-Outcome-Study Short-Form-36 Health-Survey (SF-36). Questionnaire results of VFD-patients were compared with age- and sex-matched healthy controls and with general non-selected stroke samples as published elsewhere. VFD-type and visual acuity were partially correlated with questionnaire results.ResultsCompared to healthy controls VFD-patients had lower NEI-VFQ scores except ocular pain (Z-range -11.34 to -3.35) and lower SF-36 scores except emotional role limitations (Z-range -7.21 to -3.34). VFD-patients were less impaired in SF-36 scores than general stroke patients one month post lesion (6/8 subscales) but had lower SF-36 scores compared to stroke patients six months post lesion (5/8 subscales). Visual acuity significantly correlated with NEI-VFQ scores (r-range 0.27 to 0.48) and VFD-type with SF-36 mental subscales (r-range -0.26 to -0.36).ConclusionsVFD-patients showed substantial reductions of VRQoL and HRQoL compared to healthy normals, but better HRQoL compared to stroke patients one month post lesion. VFD-patients (although their lesion age was four times higher) had significantly lower HRQoL than a general stroke population at six months post-stroke. This indicates that the stroke-related subjective level of HRQoL impairment is significantly exacerbated by VFD. While VRQoL was primarily influenced by visual acuity, mental components of HRQoL were influenced by VFD-type with larger VFD being associated with more distress.
Project description:Whether rehabilitation after stroke profits from an early start is difficult to establish as the contributions of spontaneous recovery and treatment are difficult to tease apart. Here, we use a novel training design to dissociate these components for visual rehabilitation of subacute stroke patients with visual field defects such as hemianopia. Visual discrimination training was started within 6?weeks after stroke in 17 patients. Spontaneous and training-induced recoveries were distinguished by training one-half of the defect for 8?weeks, while monitoring spontaneous recovery in the other (control) half of the defect. Next, trained and control regions were swapped, and training continued for another 8?weeks. The same paradigm was also applied to seven chronic patients for whom spontaneous recovery can be excluded and changes in the control half of the defect point to a spillover effect of training. In both groups, field stability was assessed during a no-intervention period. Defect reduction was significantly greater in the trained part of the defect than in the simultaneously untrained part of the defect irrespective of training onset (p?=?0.001). In subacute patients, training contributed about twice as much to their defect reduction as the spontaneous recovery. Goal Attainment Scores were significantly and positively correlated with the total defect reduction (p?=?0.01), percentage increase reading speed was significantly and positively correlated with the defect reduction induced by training (epoch 1: p?=?0.0044; epoch 2: p?=?0.023). Visual training adds significantly to the spontaneous recovery of visual field defects, both during training in the early and the chronic stroke phase. However, field recovery as a result of training in this subacute phase was as large as in the chronic phase. This suggests that patients benefited primarily of early onset training by gaining access to a larger visual field sooner.
Project description:PurposeTo investigate the prevalence and risk factors for visual field defect in patients with optic disc drusen (ODD).MethodsWe assessed the visual field status of patients with ODD whose diagnosis were confirmed by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Visual field defects were classified as normal, enlarged blind spot, or other defects. ODD were classified into either type 1 (without hyperreflective border and heterogenic internal reflectance) or type 2 (with hyperreflective border and lower internal reflectance). The prevalence and risk factors for each visual field defect was analyzed using logistic regression analysis and classification and regression tree (CART) modeling.ResultsOf the 40 eyes with ODD, 33 (83%) eyes were categorized as type 1 and 7 (17%) eyes were categorized as type 2 ODD. Regarding the visual field defects, 19 (48%) eyes showed normal visual field, 11 (28%) eyes showed enlarged blind spot, and 9 (24%) eyes showed other defects. The latter was more frequent in type 2 ODD (P = 0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed that the factor associated with other defects was the thinning of the average retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) (per 10 μm decrease, OR = 3.436, P = 0.004), and the factor associated with enlarged blind spot was the height of ODD (per 100 μm increase, OR = 3.956, P = 0.023). CART modeling revealed that the average RNFL thickness lesser than 85.5 μm, and then the ODD height larger than 348 μm were the best split-up factors for predicting the type of visual field defects.ConclusionsIn this study, one-quarter of ODD patients showed abnormal visual field defect other than enlarged blind spot. These other visual field defects appeared to be associated with the axonal loss in the eyes with type 2 ODD.
Project description:ObjectivesTo investigate the characteristics and temporal changes in visual field defects (VFDs) in eyes with acute central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO).DesignRetrospective, observational case series.MethodsA total of 119 patients diagnosed with acute non-arteritic CRAO through examination with Goldmann perimetry were included among the patients who visited Seoul National University Bundang Hospital between January 2009 and December 2016. They were treated with either conservative treatments or intra-arterial thrombolysis (IAT). The baseline features and temporal changes of visual field examination results and the association with clinical parameters including visual acuity, optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings, and the CRAO stages.ResultsAll of the 119 patients showed visual field defect and suffered unilateral acute CRAO. We observed five characteristic VFDs: peripheral constriction only (8%), paracentral scotoma (3%), central and cecocentral scotoma (19%), temporal island (59%), and no visual field (10%). Severe VFDs were associated with severe CRAO stages, poor baseline BCVA, delayed retinal arterial perfusion, and severe retinal morphologic changes on OCT. We found improvements in the visual field in 39% of all cases during the follow-up periods. Mild CRAO stages, good baseline BCVA, mild retinal morphologic changes, and mild initial VFDs were significantly associated with visual field improvement.ConclusionsThe five characteristic types of VFDs and their improvement in eyes with CRAO are associated with baseline features related to the severity of retinal ischemia. We suggest that the underlying mechanisms of VFDs involve the balance between the retinal arterial perfusion and the ischemic vulnerability of each retinal area.
Project description:Injury to the primary visual cortex (V1) typically leads to loss of conscious vision in the corresponding, homonymous region of the contralateral visual hemifield (scotoma). Several studies suggest that V1 is highly plastic after injury to the visual pathways, whereas others have called this conclusion into question. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure area V1 population receptive field (pRF) properties in five patients with partial or complete quadrantic visual field loss as a result of partial V1+ or optic radiation lesions. Comparisons were made with healthy controls deprived of visual stimulation in one quadrant ["artificial scotoma" (AS)]. We observed no large-scale changes in spared-V1 topography as the V1/V2 border remained stable, and pRF eccentricity versus cortical-distance plots were similar to those of controls. Interestingly, three observations suggest limited reorganization: (i) the distribution of pRF centers in spared-V1 was shifted slightly toward the scotoma border in 2 of 5 patients compared with AS controls; (ii) pRF size in spared-V1 was slightly increased in patients near the scotoma border; and (iii) pRF size in the contralesional hemisphere was slightly increased compared with AS controls. Importantly, pRF measurements yield information about the functional properties of spared-V1 cortex not provided by standard perimetry mapping. In three patients, spared-V1 pRF maps overlapped significantly with dense regions of the perimetric scotoma, suggesting that pRF analysis may help identify visual field locations amenable to rehabilitation. Conversely, in the remaining two patients, spared-V1 pRF maps failed to cover sighted locations in the perimetric map, indicating the existence of V1-bypassing pathways able to mediate useful vision.
Project description:PurposeTo evaluate the ability of chromatic pupilloperimetry to identify visual field (VF) defects in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and to test the correlation between pupilloperimetry impairment and retinal structural and functional measures.MethodsThe pupil responses of 10 patients with RP (mean age, 41.3 ± 16.2 years) and 32 healthy age-similar controls (mean age, 50.7 ± 15.5 years) for 54 focal blue and red stimuli presented in a 24-2 VF were recorded. The pupilloperimetry measures were correlated with Humphrey VF mean deviation, best-corrected visual acuity, and ellipsoid zone area.ResultsSubstantially lower percentage of pupil contraction and maximal pupil contraction velocity (MCV) were recorded in patients with RP throughout the VF in response to blue and red stimuli. The mean absolute deviation (MADEV) in the latency of MCV (LMCV) was significantly larger in patients compared with controls for blue and red stimuli (P = 1.0 × 10-7 and P = 1.0 × 10-6, respectively). The LMCV MADEV differentiated between patients and controls with high specificity and sensitivity (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.987 and 0.973 for blue and red, respectively). The MADEV of LMCV for blue stimuli correlated with best-corrected visual acuity (ρ = 0.938, P = 5.9 × 10-5) and ellipsoid zone area (ρ = -0.857; P = 0.002). The MADEV of LMCV for red stimuli correlated with Humphrey VF mean deviation (ρ = -0.709; P = 0.022). Minimizing the test to 15 targets maintained a diagnosis of retinal damage in patients with RP with high sensitivity and specificity (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.927).ConclusionsThe chromatic pupilloperimetry measures significantly correlated with retinal function and structure in patients with RP at various disease stages.Translational relevanceChromatic pupilloperimetry may enable objective assessment of visual field defects and visual acuity in RP.
Project description:Temporal visual field damage (VFD) is the common type of non-glaucomatous VF defects found in eyes with myopia. However, little is known about the factors associated with its progression. We investigated the characteristic of myopic eyes with progressive temporal VF defects. This retrospective, observational study included a total of 116 eyes: 39 eyes with temporal VFDs and an axial length greater than 24.5 mm, 77 eyes with typical glaucomatous VFDs who were followed up more than 5 years. VF progression was evaluated with Trend-based global progression analysis. In the temporal VFD group, the greater tilt ratios, the higher prevalence of β-zone peripapillary atrophy (β-PPA), the substantial increase in β-PPA were found, compared to the typical glaucomatous VFD groups (all P-values ≤ 0.001). The temporal VFD group had the slower progression than the typical glaucomatous VFD group on trend-based GPA (P = 0.047). In the multivariate linear regression analysis, the change of β-PPA area over years was related to temporal VFD progression (B, - 0.000088, P = 0.003). In conclusion, myopic eyes with the temporal VFD, which come with growing β-PPA area, should be monitored with extra caution.
Project description:BackgroundThis study aimed to simulate the visual field (VF) effects of patients with VF defects using deep learning and computer vision technology.MethodsWe collected 3,660 Humphrey visual fields (HVFs) as data samples, including 3,263 reliable 24-2 HVFs. The convolutional neural network (CNN) analyzed and converted the grayscale map of reliable samples into structured data. The artificial intelligence (AI) simulations were developed using computer vision technology. In statistical analyses, the pilot study determined 687 reliable samples to conduct clinical trials, and the two independent sample t-tests were used to calculate the difference of the cumulative gray values. Three volunteers evaluated the matching degree of shape and position between the grayscale map and the AI simulation, which was graded from 0 to100 scores. Based on the average ranking, the proportion of good and excellent grades was determined, and thus the reliability of the AI simulations was assessed.ResultsThe reliable samples in the experimental data consisted of 1,334 normal samples and 1,929 abnormal samples. Based on the existing mature CNN model, the fully connected layer was integrated to analyze the VF damage parameters of the input images, and the prediction accuracy of the damage type of the VF defects was up to 89%. By mapping the area and damage information in the VF damage parameter quintuple data set into the real scene image and adjusting the darkening effect according to the damage parameter, the visual effects in patients were simulated in the real scene image. In the clinical validation, there was no statistically significant difference in the cumulative gray value (P>0.05). The good and excellent proportion of the average scores reached 96.0%, thus confirming the accuracy of the AI model.ConclusionsAn AI model with high accuracy was established to simulate the visual effects in patients with VF defects.