Category: Parkinson's Disease: Non-Motor Symptoms
Objective: To identify and characterize the correlation between static contrast sensitivity (SCS), dynamic contrast sensitivity (DCS), and thickness of the internal plexiform layer (IPL) in the retina of early Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients.
Background: PD presents with a range of visual symptoms, which may vary from reduced visual acuity to visual hallucinations. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has uncovered retinal thinning in PD, and evidence suggests a distinct thinning of the IPL, in PD compared to controls. The IPL contains amacrine cells, which are involved in the detection of rapid changes of illumination. Amacrine cell function has been previously tested by DCS. We hypothesize that DCS is impaired in PD and correlates with IPL thickness.
Method: Fifty PD patients from the Dutch Parkinson Cohort (DUPARC) study underwent extensive ophthalmological assessments including, but not limited to, OCT, SCS, and DCS during their third year follow-up visits. These outcomes are compared with an age and gender matched control group.
Results: Ophthalmological characteristics including OCT measured-IPL thickness, Pelli-Robson chart measured- SCS, perimetry measured-SCS, and perimetry measured DCS outcomes of 50 early PD patients and 50 controls will be presented. Furthermore, comparative analysis of differences between groups and correlational analysis between variables will be graphically demonstrated. Ultimately to characterize the best predictor of the amacrine cell layer thinning a multiple linear regression model will be created.
Conclusion: Investigation of DCS correlation to IPL thinning offers a starting point for characterization of the specific functional changes found in the PD retina. The DUPARC study offers data to further characterized positive findings in the case that a suggestion of functional proxy is elicited.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
C. Gillen, S. Zee, N. Jansonius, T. van Laar. DUtch PARkinson Cohort (DUPARC): Contrast Sensitivity and Retinal Changes in Early Parkinson’s Disease Patients [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2022; 37 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/dutch-parkinson-cohort-duparc-contrast-sensitivity-and-retinal-changes-in-early-parkinsons-disease-patients/. Accessed June 15, 2025.« Back to 2022 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/dutch-parkinson-cohort-duparc-contrast-sensitivity-and-retinal-changes-in-early-parkinsons-disease-patients/