Comparison of visual function quality in central and peripheral vision impairment disorders

초록

Purpose : To compare visual function quality in patients with central vision impairment (neovascular age-related macular degeneration, nAMD) and peripheral vision impairment (branch retinal vein occlusion, BRVO), and to investigate differences by BRVO lesion location. Methods : This prospective study included 103 patients (nAMD, n=53; BRVO, n=50). Visual function quality was assessed using the NEI-VFQ-25 questionnaire. Retinal thickness and RNFL thickness were measured using swept-source OCT. BRVO patients were further analyzed by superior and inferior lesion location. Statistical analyses included group comparisons and correlation assessments. Results : nAMD patients exhibited lower scores on NEI-VFQ-25 subscales for social functioning, mental health, role difficulties, and dependency (all p<0.05) despite similar visual acuity to BRVO patients. Retinal thickness was greater in BRVO at all ETDRS subfields (p<0.001). Within BRVO, superior lesions showed greater retinal thickness in superior subfields, but NEI-VFQ-25 scores did not differ significantly by lesion location. Worse-eye visual acuity negatively correlated with visual function quality subscales in both groups. Conclusions : Visual function quality is more adversely affected in nAMD than BRVO, likely reflecting disease-specific factors. BRVO lesion location impacts retinal thickness but not visual function quality. These findings highlight the differential burden of central and peripheral vision impairment on quality of life.