Dark-adapted foveal thresholds and visual acuity in retinitis pigmentosa

K. R. Alexander, L. P. Hutman and G. A. Fishman

To determine the relationship of foveal absolute thresholds to visual acuity in retinitis pigmentosa, we measured thresholds in 40 patients with various forms of retinitis pigmentosa (including Usher's syndrome) whose Snellen visual acuities were 20/30 or better. At all visual acuity levels, the patients' foveal thresholds were significantly higher than those of 20 similarly aged normal observers; threshold elevations tended to be greater for a 500-nm than for a 655-nm test flash. Foveal cone spatial summation functions were normal (test flash diameter range, 7' to 1.7 degrees), indicating that the patients' threshold elevations did not result from altered summation properties. A significant correlation between foveal cone thresholds and the midpoints of the patients' Rayleigh matches demonstrated that the threshold elevations resulted in part from a decreased cone optical density.