Spontaneous visual improvement in the first affected eye of patients with bilateral disciform scars

Patients with macular disciform degeneration may undergo spontaneous improvement in visual acuity of the first affected eye when the second eye later undergoes a decrease in vision. Three hundred twenty-nine cases of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome (POH) were examined. There were 20 patients who strictly met the criteria of a disciform scar causing visual acuity of 20/200 or worse in one eye, and 20/50 or better vision in the second eye, who subsequently developed involvement of the second eye with a decrease in visual acuity to 20/200 or less. Six of these 20 patients (30%), after mean follow-up of 32.8 months, achieved spontaneous visual acuity improvement, defined as at least a five-line improvement on a decimal (logarithmic) scale, with an average increase of 7.6 lines in the first affected eye. At extended mean follow-up of 50.1 months, two of the six lost vision, so that four of the 20 (20%) had five lines or more of improvement.