[Color vision defects of macular diseases]

Patients with macular diseases such as x-linked juvenile retinoschisis, cone dystrophy, and age-related macular degeneration were studied regarding color vision defects. In 9 of 15 eyes of patients with x-linked juvenile retinoschisis, blue-yellow defects were demonstrated. In the older patients with this dystrophy, color vision defects were more severe than in younger ones. Fluorescein angiography revealed retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) atrophy at the macular area in these older patients. Therefore, it was suggested that the color vision defects were due to dysfunction of the outer sensory retina, occurring secondarily to the inner sensory retina. In patients with cone dystrophy, all the examined eyes showed severe color vision defects. It was proved that the size of the atrophic lesion which when ophthalmoscopically evaluated was found to have some relationship with the degree of color vision defects. In patients with age-related macular degeneration, most of the examined eyes showed color vision defects. Moreover eyes with soft drusen formation and/or RPE detachment usually showed more severe color vision defects than the eyes with hard drusen formation and/or RPE atrophy.