Association between Clinical Vision Measures and Visual Perception and Soccer Referees' On-field Performance.

SIGNIFICANCE: The decisions taken by soccer officials are critically important to game management. Understanding the underlying processes that mediate expert performance in soccer refereeing may lead to a better standard of officiating. Vision is the dominant source of incoming information upon which officials rely to make their on-field decisions. PURPOSE: We tested the hypothesis that performance on generic tests of vision and visual perception predicts domain-specific performance in elite-level soccer referees (R) and assistant referees (AR). METHODS: We assessed the vision of R and AR who officiate at the highest level in Portugal. To be eligible for inclusion, R and AR had to have officiated for at least two consecutive seasons across the 2014/2015, 2015/2016, and 2016/2017 seasons. A single, rank-order list of the performance of eligible officials was created based on the rank-order list for each season that was made by the Portuguese Soccer Federation. Clinical vision measures included visual acuity and stereoacuity, and visual perception measures were gathered using the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills, Third Edition. RESULTS: A total of 59 officials participated (21 R, 38 AR), 17 of whom officiated at the international level. The R and AR groups did not differ in vision or visual perception measures. We found that better stereoacuity (P < .001) and visual memory (P = .001) are associated with a higher rank order of on-field performance after adjusting for the age, experience, the national/international status, and the regional affiliation of the officials. Together, these two measures explain 22% of the variance in rank-order performance. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to show a link between the vision of officials and their on-field performance. The origin and significance of these findings remain to be established, and further work is required to establish whether they are component skills in the domain of soccer refereeing.

Inter-Eye Vault Differences of Implantable Collamer Lens Measured Using Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography.

PURPOSE: The distance between an implantable collamer lens (ICL) and the crystalline lens, namely vault, is a space regulated by the interaction of the ICL and the anatomical structures of the eye. This study analysed the differences in vault size between fellow eyes with similar anterior segment biometry. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective case series analysed 109 cases of patients bilaterally implanted with EVO-V4c. Patients were analysed pre- and postoperatively using anterior segment optical coherence tomography. The range of vault inter-eye differences was defined as the 95% confidence interval of the differences. Bivariate correlation was applied to seek for associations between vault inter-eye differences with biometric and lens parameters (angle-to-angle, anterior chamber depth, crystalline lens rise, central corneal thickness, central keratometry, ICL spherical equivalent, horizontal compression, postoperative pupil diameter and vault). RESULTS: Mean vault inter-eye differences were similar between fellow eyes (26.0 ± 122.5 µm). The 95% confidence interval range of the differences was ±240.1 µm, nearly 50% of the cases presented vault inter-eye differences higher than 100 µm. The vault of the first operated eye explained 81% of the variance in the second eye vault. Vault inter-eye differences were positively correlated with the level of horizontal compression and with vault magnitude. CONCLUSION: Vaults measured in fellow eyes may present considerable differences, which can reach 25% of the common vault range. This reflects some degree of baseline variability in the vault. Clinically, these differences assume special relevance in cases where low or high vaults are expected.

Visual and health outcomes, measured with the activity inventory and the EQ-5D, in visual impairment.

PURPOSE: Generic instruments to assess health utilities can be used to express the burden of health problems in widely used indexes. That is in contrast with what can be obtained with condition-specific instruments, outcomes are very specific and difficult to compare across conditions. The purpose of this study was to assess health and visual outcomes and its determinants in patients with visual impairment (VI) using the EQ-5D-3L and the Activity Inventory (AI). METHODS: Participants were recruited in different hospitals during the PCVIP-study. A total of 134 patients with acuity 0.30 logMAR or less in the better eye were interviewed. The AI includes 46 goals split between three objectives: social functioning, recreation and daily living, and was used to measure visual ability. The EQ-5D consists of five questions covering one domain each and was used to provide a measure of health states. Responses to each domain were combined to produce a single individual index. RESULTS: The AI and the EQ-5D-3L showed enough discriminatory power between VI levels (p < 0.001), and their results were strongly correlated r(134) = 0.825, (p < 0.001). Explanatory factors for visual ability were level of VI in better eye, age and gender, R2  = 0.43, (p < 0.001). Explanatory factors for the EQ-5D-3L were level of VI in the better eye, comorbidities and gender, R2  = 0.36, (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our results showed that the EQ-5D-3L is useful when characterizing the burden of VI and to compute, when necessary, quality-adjusted-life-years (QALY) changes due to VI. However, it is important to consider that the EQ-5D-3L uses a coarse response scale, assesses a limited spectrum of domains and is influenced by comorbidities. This might limit its responsiveness to small changes in visual ability.

Changes in spatial extent and peak double optical density of human macular pigment with age.

The purpose of the present work was to estimate the changes in spatial distribution and optical density of macular pigment (MP) with age. A fundus imaging system with high spatial and spectral resolution was adapted to form an indirect ophthalmoscope. The double optical density at 490 nm of the MP as a function of the location in the retina was obtained for 33 healthy subjects (ages: 21-60 years). There was an increase in spatial extent and decrease in double optical density with age. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of MP showed central areas with irregular shapes and a tendency toward asymmetry.

Functional impairment with minimal macular damage in femtosecond laser plasma injury: case report.

A 26 years old female patient was examined twenty-four hours after observing laser-induced plasma formation in a process of nanoparticle production complaining of bilateral central scotoma. The ophthalmologic evaluation included dilated fundus observation, fluorescein angiography, and optical coherence tomography (OCT). In the first assessment, visual acuity was 20/20 in the right eye and 20/25 in the left eye. Ophthalmologic evaluation revealed colour changes in the macular region of both eyes. Optical coherence tomography showed a central interruption of the photoreceptor layer in both eyes and fluorescein angiography was normal. In subsequent appointments acuity was always 20/20 in both eyes. Abnormal optical coherence tomography findings disappeared in less than 5 months, but subjective complaints of scotoma in the left eye remained. Extra care must be taken in this type of experiment by, for example, reducing the time that the retina is directly exposed to the plasma radiation.

Functional impairment with minimal macular damage in femtosecond laser plasma injury: case report / Comprometimento funcional com dano macular mínimo em lesão com plasma de laser de femtosegundo: relato de caso

A 26 years old female patient was examined twenty-four hours after observing laser-induced plasma formation in a process of nanoparticle production complaining of bilateral central scotoma. The ophthalmologic evaluation included dilated fundus observation, fluorescein angiography, and optical coherence tomography (OCT). In the first assessment, visual acuity was 20/20 in the right eye and 20/25 in the left eye. Ophthalmologic evaluation revealed colour changes in the macular region of both eyes. Optical coherence tomography showed a central interruption of the photoreceptor layer in both eyes and fluorescein angiography was normal. In subsequent appointments acuity was always 20/20 in both eyes. Abnormal optical coherence tomography findings disappeared in less than 5 months, but subjective complaints of scotoma in the left eye remained. Extra care must be taken in this type of experiment by, for example, reducing the time that the retina is directly exposed to the plasma radiation.

Uma paciente de 26 anos foi examinada 24 horas após observar a formação de plasma induzido por laser em um processo de produção de nanopartículas, referindo escotoma central bilateral. A avaliação oftalmológica incluiu observação dilatada da retina, angiofluoresceinografia e tomografia de coerência óptica (OCT). Na primeira avaliação, a acuidade de 20/20 no olho direito e 20/25 no olho esquerdo. A avaliação oftalmológica revelou mudanças de coloração da região macular de ambos os olhos. A tomografia de coerência óptica mostrou uma interrupção central da camada de fotorreceptores em ambos os olhos, e a angiografia fluoresceínica foi normal. Nas consultas subsequentes a acuidade sempre foi 20/20 em ambos os olhos. Os achados da tomografia de coerência óptica anormais desapareceram em menos de cinco meses, mas as queixas subjetivas de escotoma no olho esquerdo permaneceram. Cuidado extra deve ser tomado para este tipo de experiência, por exemplo, reduzindo o tempo em que a retina é diretamente exposta à radiação de plasma.