The way visual acuity is tested doesn't tell the story of how the Fuchs' patient is REALLY seeing. Normally, the eye test is conducted in a darkened room  and the chart is well lighted.

The problem with this type of test for a Fuchs' patient at the glare stage is that their vision is entirely different according to the light conditions. They  may see quite well if the light source is behind them, but if they are looking  at something that has light behind it, they are viritually blind.

For the patient who has reached the foggy stage, visual acuity may vary  according to the time of day. We've had members who could see 20/300 at 8 am but be improved to 20/80 by 4 PM. Other things that contribute to foggy vision for our members are humidity, allergies, stress or fatigue, and crying. This  fogginess of vision also affects contrast, including loss of color clarity and  depth perception.

One member of our Fuchs' Friends support group had this comment about the eye  test (the people in Fuchs' Friends have a great sense of humor):

"I think eye doctors should all have a driving simulator (like a pilot's  training simulator) in their offices. They'd put us in the seat and we'd watch the eye chart go by at 30 mph. Of course, the eye chart would be green with  white letters. A great test would be to have us find the address. Oh, and then what fun with a night driving simulator! They could test us with headlights and then we could play Find the Curb and Stay in the Lane with no stripes on the  road. I think those eye doctors would be amazed."

Vikki

 

Commonlaw Copyright 2002 - D.Acton All rights reserved. No part of this website may, for commercial, profit-making or other non-personal purposes, be reproduced in any form, or stored in a database or retrieval system, or transmitted or distributed in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written or electronic permission of the Author,  Submit all inquiries to said person via email to the site’s webmaster.