Open Access
American Research Journal of Ophthalmology and Optometry
ISSN (Online):
DOI: 10.46568/arjopt
Effective Visual Field Rehabilitation in Homonymous Hemianopia by Attaching Binocular Prisms to Lenses
Abstract
Purpose: To study if rehabilitation and partial recovery of the visual field is possible in the context of complete homonymous hemianopia (CHH). It is also important to determine whether or not the acquisition of pointing accuracy strategies by these patients leads to improvement in their everyday performance.
Methods: All the patients had neuro-ophthalmologic symptoms with sector field loss characteristic of CHH. We tested the effectiveness of a visual rehabilitation treatment for CHH, consisting in attaching prism strips to both lenses of the patient’s glasses. We designed an experiment in which participants had to point to a target located at a particular distance and in a particular direction in the visual field, using a ‘device pointer’ fixed to a king-size protractor.
Results: Results from an ANOVA revealed that patients improved their ability to locate objects in space after three months of the treatment, that is, by means of practice and adaptation.
Conclusion: The partial recovery of the lost visual field can be explained by two alternative hypotheses: one is based on brain neuroplasticity and the other on perceptual learning and attentional filtering of two overlapping images.
Methods: All the patients had neuro-ophthalmologic symptoms with sector field loss characteristic of CHH. We tested the effectiveness of a visual rehabilitation treatment for CHH, consisting in attaching prism strips to both lenses of the patient’s glasses. We designed an experiment in which participants had to point to a target located at a particular distance and in a particular direction in the visual field, using a ‘device pointer’ fixed to a king-size protractor.
Results: Results from an ANOVA revealed that patients improved their ability to locate objects in space after three months of the treatment, that is, by means of practice and adaptation.
Conclusion: The partial recovery of the lost visual field can be explained by two alternative hypotheses: one is based on brain neuroplasticity and the other on perceptual learning and attentional filtering of two overlapping images.
