Purpose: To investigate visual function in patients with CEP290 Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA-CEP290), using three full-field tests that can be performed by patients with poor fixation.
Methods: Six patients (age range, 9-39 years) with LCA-CEP290 participated in the study. Stimuli for all three tests (full-field stimulus test [FST], pupillometry, and light discomfort threshold [LDT] testing) were generated by the Diagnosys ColorDome ganzfeld, by using achromatic stimuli as well as long- and short-wavelength stimuli to target rod and cone photoreceptors with all three tests and, in the latter two tests, melanopsin photoreceptors.
Results: Dark-adapted FST thresholds in LCA-CEP290 patients were cone mediated and elevated between 4.8 and 6.2 log units above the normal achromatic threshold. The FST threshold was not measurable in one patient. The rod-mediated transient pupillary light reflex (PLR) was absent in all but the youngest patient, where unreliable responses precluded PLR quantification. Cone-mediated transient PLRs were subnormal in five patients, and absent in another. Sustained melanopsin-mediated PLRs were measurable in all patients. Full-field LDT thresholds were elevated compared to normal controls, and were lower for short-wavelengh than for long-wavelength stimuli.
Conclusions: The FST thresholds and transient PLRs were cone mediated in our cohort LCA-CEP290 patients. Rod-mediated PLRs were undetectable, whereas melanopsin-mediated sustained responses were detected in all patients, suggesting a relative preservation of inner-retina function. The LDT elevations for the patients are somewhat paradoxical, given their subjective perception of photoaversion. Relative aversion to short-wavelength light suggests influence from melanopsin on LDTs in these patients.