The following is a summary of “Visual acuity and visual field as a function of disease duration in patients with birdshot chorioretinitis,” published in the March 2024 issue of Ophthalmology by Loeliger et al.

Birdshot chorioretinitis (BSCR) is a long-term inflammatory disease affecting both eyes and damaging central and peripheral vision.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study investigating how vision (acuity and field) changed over time in patients with BSCR.

They conducted a single-centre study using data from the CO-BIRD cohort. Patient visits were sorted by time since initial symptoms, defining groups based on disease duration. The primary measures included best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), mean deviation (MD), and standard pattern deviation (PSD).

The results showed 447 Caucasian individuals (181 males and 266 females), all carriers of HLA-A29, participated in the study. Across consecutive 5-year intervals from onset to 30 years of disease duration, the patient count stood at 237, 250, 196, 147, 78, and 32, respectively. Visual acuity and visual field outcomes generally escalated with disease duration. BCVA gradually declined significantly after 11–15 years post-onset. PSD notably rose after 16–20 years, while MD showed a significant decrease after 21–25 years. No gender differences were found in visual outcomes, indicating similar severity. Intereye correlations of MD and PSD were stronger than BCVA.

Investigators concluded that Birdshot chorioretinitis (BSCR) caused a wide range of visual outcomes, which worsened over time, highlighting the disease’s long-term impact on vision.

Source: bjo.bmj.com/content/early/2024/03/20/bjo-2023-324636