Abstract
In patients with thyroid optic neuropathy, vision may deteriorate because of compression of the optic nerve by swollen extraocular muscles. We examined dark adaptation in nineteen patients, aged 25 – 59 years, with thyroid optic neuropathy with an ARP adaptometer. The duration of the disease was less than 1 month in five patients, 1 – 3 months in eight patients, and more than 3 months in six patients. The age-matched control group consisted of twelve healthy people with normal visual acuity.
We found that visual acuity was reduced in fourteen of the patients. In patients with duration of the illness of 1 – 3 months and over 3 months, dark adaptation was impaired. In patients with less than 1 month duration of the disease, all measurements were within normal limits.
The results show that characteristics of dark-adaptation change progressively during thyroid optic neuropathy, thus providing objective and additional information for diagnosis and prognosis. These data are useful in choosing the tactics of treatment.
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