Flimmerverschmelzungsfrequenz bei Normalpersonen, AMD und Optikopathien

Critical Flicker-fusion Frequency in healthy probands, patients with AMD and optic neuropathy

by Hans Helge Meyer-Rüsenberg
Doctoral thesis
Date of Examination:2017-09-25
Date of issue:2017-09-07
Advisor:Prof. Dr. Michael Schittkowski
Referee:Prof. Dr Michael Schittkowski
Referee:Prof. Dr. Tim Gollisch
Persistent Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.53846/goediss-6470

 

 

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Abstract

English

Critical Flicker-fusion Frequency in healthy probands, patients with AMD and optic neuropathy The determination of critical flicker-fusion frequency ( CFF) is a well established neurophysiological method. The examination of CFF reflects the function of the whole visual system (retina, optic nerve, visual cortex). First it was the purpose of this study was to determine the CFF in healthy probands using a commercial available device (IMEA Eszteregnye, Hungary). The reliability and the reproducibility of our test results were checked. Subsequently, it was examined if CFF is a useful tool in diagnosing AMD or optic neuropathy. Reproducibility was evaluated using Bland-Altman-Plots and the Bland-Altman-Analysis showing reliable results. In addition the consistency of the data was checked using the intra-class-correlation. It showed a high reliability. The group of healthy probands included 30 young individuals with an average age of 25 years. As CFF decreases with age future studies should implement an age-matched control group, The comparison of all CFF results within the 3 study groups (healthy probands, patients with AMD and optic neuropathy) showed an unbalanced distribution. There was a major difference to a theoretical expected Gaussian distribution. We found a statistically significant difference between the average CFF results of healthy probands to AMD patients (p<0.001). The comparison of the average CFF results of exsudative AMD to non-exsudative AMD patients showed no significant difference (p=0.102). So a patholocigal CFF was found in AMD patients, but it was not possible to distinguish between its subgroups (exsudative or non-exsudative AMD) . The comparison of the average CFF of healthy probands with those with optic neuropathy showed statistically significant differences as well (p<0.001). Again pathological data were measurable, but a diagnosis of an optic neuropathy could not be made. There was no significant difference of the CFF of the AMD group compared to the optic neuropathy group, ( p=0.303), supporting its unspecificity In conclusion we found pathological CFF results in patients with AMD or optic neuropathies compared to young and healthy controls. The results must be corrected according to the patient’s age. To achieve a precise ophthalmological diagnosis additional diagnostics such as examination the fundus, fluorescein-angiography, optical coherence tomography (OCT) or electrophysiological measurements need to be performed .
Keywords: Critical Flicker- fusion Frequency; healthy probands; AMD; optic neuropathy
 
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