CONTRAST SENSITIVITY FUNCTION CORRELATES WITH OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY FINDINGS IN MACULAR TELANGIECTASIA TYPE 2

To investigate the quantitative contrast sensitivity function (qCSF) changes in macular telangiectasia type 2 eyes and to assess associations with structural optical coherence tomography biomarkers.

Cross-sectional, observational study including 49 macular telangiectasia type 2 eyes and 277 propensity score matched control eyes with same-day visual acuity, qCSF testing, and multimodal retinal imaging. Quantitative contrast sensitivity function metrics included area under the logarithm of contrast sensitivity function, contrast acuity, and contrast sensitivity thresholds at 1 to 18 cycles per degree. Structural optical coherence tomography biomarkers comprised presence and location of ellipsoid zone discontinuity, outer retinal hyperreflectivity, outer retinal cavitations, as well as macular neovascularization presence.Mixed-effects linear regression models, adjusted for age and lens status, compared the macular telangiectasia type 2 and the control groups and explored relationships with optical coherence tomography biomarkers.

Macular telangiectasia type 2 eyes showed significantly lower qCSF-measured contrast sensitivity than controls (β*: -1.28 to -0.78; all P < 0.001) for all analyzed qCSF metrics. Multivariable analysis revealed significant associations between reduced contrast sensitivity and structural biomarkers (β*: -1.03 to -0.51; all P < 0.05), except for macular neovascularization ( P > 0.05).

Our findings indicate that qCSF testing can identify reduced contrast sensitivity in macular telangiectasia type 2 across various spatial frequencies compared with controls. These changes seem particularly associated with early structural optical coherence tomography alterations.