RESUMEN
Purpose: To examine the potential of different head-mounted displays in the rehabilitation of individuals with visual impairment. Methods: This prospective explorative study conducted between September 2019 and August 2020 included participants with Stargardt disease with moderate to severe visual impairment and a relatively preserved peripheral visual field. AceSight, eSight 3, IrisVision Live, and Jordy were tested. After instruction and training, participants chose two head-mounted displays for home use for two weeks per device. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure was used for evaluation. Results: Twelve participants (aged 16-53 years) tested all head-mounted displays in the clinic. Distance visual acuity and reading distance improved with all head-mounted displays and eSight and Irisvision improved near visual acuity. Six participants decided not to test the head-mounted display at home due to lack of time or energy, dizziness and discomfort, double vision and peripheral visual field limitation, or aesthetics. After home use, the participants reported improved visual function at a distance with IrisVision, AceSight, and e-Sight, whereas only AceSight improved vision during near tasks. IrisVision and eSight improved reading ability, and none of the devices improved vision during tasks involving computers. Five participants used the devices sparingly, and five avoided public use owing to aesthetics. Conclusion: We found an improvement in distance visual acuity and increased reading distance for all tested head-mounted displays. Additionally, IrisVision and eSight improved visual function at near and eSight also improved contrast vision at distance. Despite the possibility of improving vision, social stigma and device aesthetics kept the participants from using head-mounted displays in public and limited their use at home.
RESUMEN
(1) Background: The aim of the study was to describe refractive development from early childhood to adulthood in Danish patients with albinism and to evaluate the effect of foveal developmental stage on refractive development; (2) Methods: Patients with a clinical diagnosis of ocular or oculocutaneous albinism were invited for a refractive evaluation and comprehensive phenotyping including macular optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans. Foveal hypoplasia was graded based on OCT from 0 (normal) to 4 (absence of any signs of foveal specialization). Medical files were reviewed for historical refractive values in individual patients; (3) Results: Hyperopia (spherical equivalent refraction (SEQ) of ≥+1 Diopter (D)) was common in both children (81.3%) and adults (67.1%). The lower prevalence of hyperopia in adults was predominantly explained by increasing astigmatism with age. Emmetropization (>2D change from before 3 years to adolescence) was seen in 22.2%. There was no influence on foveal hypoplasia grade on the degree of refractive errors throughout life; (4) Conclusions: We found that emmetropization was uncommon in Danish patients with albinism and that the degree of foveal developmental stage did not influence emmetropization or the distribution of refractive errors. High degrees of hyperopia and astigmatism were common. These results indicate that fear of impeding emmetropization should not refrain the clinician from providing adequate correction for refractive errors in young children with albinism.
