Changes in functional visual acuity and ocular wavefront aberration after administration of eye ointment.

PURPOSE

To investigate the influence of an eye ointment on functional visual acuity (FVA) and ocular wavefront aberration.

METHODS

In 11 healthy volunteers (6 men and 5 women), visual function parameters, such as FVA, visual maintenance ratios (VMR), and minimal visual acuity (minVA), were assessed by the FVA measurement system before and 2, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, 180, and 240 min after administration of ofloxacin eye ointment. Ocular aberration was also measured, and the root mean square (RMS) of second-, third-, fourth-, and total higher-order aberrations was determined. The time course of changes in each parameter was statistically analyzed by using repeated-measures analysis of variance and the Dunnett post hoc test, and relationships between visual function and ocular aberration parameters were also analyzed by the Pearson correlation test.

RESULTS

FVA, VMR, and minVA showed significant deteriorations at 2-, 5-, 10-, and 20 min after administration of eye ointment compared with the baseline values (P<0.05). All components of ocular wavefront aberration such as second-, third-, fourth-, and total higher-order RMS significantly increased at 2- and 5 min after the administration of eye ointment compared with the baseline values (P<0.05). In addition, deteriorations of these visual function parameters were significantly correlated with reduced blink numbers (Pearson's correlation coefficient; r=- 0.76, P=0.017 for FVA, r=0.79, P=0.013 for VMR, and r=-0.62, P=0.040 for minVA), and VMR was significantly related with changes in second-order RMS (r=-0.60, P=0.049).

CONCLUSIONS

Eye ointment significantly reduced visual function for at least 20 min. Especially, minVA was worse than 0.155 logMAR, which is legally required for driving, for 3 h after the administration. In addition, increases in lower-order aberration and low blink rates were associated with the degradation of visual function.