other ways of testing vision

[ronseye99]

Hi there,

I'm new to this forum thing. I would like to know what other ways are there of assessing vision besides the snellens chart.? My brother had a retinal detachment which has been repaired. A year has passed but vision remains bad and he cannot even read the snellens chart in the doctor's room. He can however see large text close up  though it is extremely blur & distorted. An electroretinogram and EOG were normal. What does this mean? He was told the retina is functioning and given time he can still improve.  What do these tests show and are there other ways of testing vision? How long will he take to recover?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

I do not use the EEG or EOG in my practice (we have a specialized retina clinic). I cannot interpret them in the context of your brother's problem. Using today's technology over 95% of retinas can be reattached but this may require more than one operation and as I said putting it back in place doesn't mean normal vision is returned.

If the macula was pulled off "poor" vision and "distorted vision" are not at all uncommon.

I repeat get a second opinion elsewhere.

JCH III MD

[ronseye99]

Doesn't the normal electroretinogram and EOG mean anything? What about the advice he was given that the retina is still functioning (I take that to mean functioning well). What is the success rate of surgery to fix retinal detachment and is my brother really unlucky or does he reflect the "usual" patient who undergoes such treatment? What is the likelihood of the retina getting detached again (do you have any figures expressed as probabilities or percentages, etc)?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but generally what vision comes back in 1 year is it and further improvement is unlikely.

If the retina is pulled loose especially if the macula (reading part of retina) is pulled off putting it back in place often does not give normal vision. However the person is still better off as if left unfixed the RD causes blindness in the detached parts.

There are special cards and techniques for "low vision"

Get a second oinion. Find one at www.aao.org

JCH III MD