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Menstrual cycle may affect visual field outcomes
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When evaluating a suspected loss of visual field sensitivity in women, a group of Turkish researchers recommended verifying menstrual status first.
Yusuf Akar and colleagues at the Akdeniz University School of Medicine randomly selected one eye each of 59 healthy, normally menstruating women and compared them to the eyes of 54 men. Neither group had any ocular or systemic problems other than refractive errors. Both standard achromatic perimetric (SAP) and short-wavelength automated perimetric (SWAP) analysis were used in both follicular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle.
The mean age of the 59 women was 34.6 years and of the 54 men, 35 years. SWAP test demonstrated a significantly decreased value in the luteal phase, but SAP tests did not indicate a significant change. Mean perimetric test durations obtained by either SAP or SWAP were not different throughout the menstrual cycle.
The study is published in the January issue of Ophthalmologica.