Visual losses in early-onset and late-onset Parkinson's disease

• Published in: Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision Vol. 37; no. 5; p. A285
• Main Authors: Feitosa-Santana, Claudia, Fernandes Costa, Marcelo, Ballalai Ferraz, Henrique, Andrade, Luiz Augusto F, Moura, Ana Laura, Amaro, Edson, Hamer, Russell D, Fix Ventura, Dora
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-05-2020
• Subjects: Adult; Age of Onset; Aged; Color Perception Tests; Color Vision Defects - diagnosis; Color Vision Defects - etiology; Contrast Sensitivity - physiology; Female; Humans; Intraocular Pressure - physiology; Male; Middle Aged; Parkinson Disease - complications; Tonometry, Ocular; Vision, Low - etiology; Vision, Low - physiopathology
• ISSN: 1520-8532
• DOI: 10.1364/JOSAA.382042

Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) manifest visual losses. However, it is not known whether these losses are equivalent in both early-onset (EOPD) and late-onset (LOPD) patients. We evaluated contrast sensitivity and color vision in EOPD and LOPD patients and in age-matched controls. Losses occurred in both patient groups but were more pronounced in EOPD, consistent with the notion that non-motor symptoms are affected by age of symptom onset. More studies of visual function in EOPD and LOPD patients are needed to understand how aging is related to the pathophysiology of non-motor PD symptomatology. This would permit earlier diagnosis and, perhaps, better management of the disease.