Photography of the nerve fiber layer in retinal disturbances

The diagnostic value of nerve fiber layer photography is assessed. The series comprised 39 patients with various neuro-ophthalmological diseases. Photography of the nerve fibers in the retina is time consuming and requires skill on the part of the photographer. Differences in the papillomacular nerve fiber layer are difficult to distinguish using the present methods. The wasting of nerve fibers could be documented by photography in advanced cases with bitemporal hemianopia, but not in small relative scotomas. Cases with homonymous hemianopia are interesting because lesions in the optic tract can be differentiated from affections of the second neuron on the basis of retinal nerve fiber atrophy. In demyelinating diseases inspection of the retinal nerve fiber layer is of clinical importance and diagnostic changes appear,