New emerging visual screening software valid and reliable for diagnosing hemianopia

Thailand: Supharat Jariyakosol and the team's CU-VF new program demonstrates strong validity and reliability in hemianopia detection, quicker time, and more satisfaction of subjects compared to the Standard automated perimeter (SAP). Homonymous hemianopia is caused by lesions of the retro chiasmal visual pathway. In population-based cohort research, the prevalence of homonymous hemianopia was observed to be 0.8 percent.

This study was published in Dovepress- Eye Brain journal on 29th August 2021 and the main objective of this work was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of visual field findings produced by newly created software (CU-VF) with standard automated perimetry (SAP) for diagnosing hemianopia.

The CU-VF software on a personal computer and SAP were used to evaluate 43 patients with hemianopia and 33 controls. Hemianopia was defined as the existence of a hemianopic field on SAP respecting the vertical meridian with the associated neuroimaging pathology as determined by two neuro-ophthalmologists. In terms of the existence of hemianopia, the results of CU-VF were independently reviewed by two neuro-ophthalmologists, one general ophthalmologist, and one general practitioner. For inter-observer reliability, the sensitivity, specificity, and kappa coefficient were determined.

The results of this study demonstrate that the CU-VF test has a relatively high sensitivity (74.42 percent) and specificity (93.94 percent) when SAP is used as the gold standard. The AUC is 0.84, which indicates a satisfactory test. These findings confirm the usefulness of our CU-VF test as a diagnostic and prospective screening test. The CU-VF test was used to assess interobserver agreement. The results reveal that neuro-ophthalmologists and general ophthalmologists have a fair agreement (0.71) and neuro-ophthalmologists and general practitioners have an outstanding agreement (0.84). When compared to the CU-VF test result, CVF has equivalent specificity but lower sensitivity.

In conclusion, this can be used as an additional diagnostic and screening technique in hemianopic individuals. Once it is made public, it has significant potential benefits for clinical practice and the general public in areas where SAP is not widely accessible.

Reference:

Jariyakosol, S., Jaru-ampornpan, P., Manassakorn, A., Itthipanichpong, R., Hirunwiwatkul, P., Tantisevi, V., Somkijrungroj, T., & Rojanapongpun, P. (2021). Sensitivity and Specificity of New Visual Field Screening Software for Diagnosing Hemianopia. Eye and Brain, Volume 13, 231–238. https://doi.org/10.2147/eb.s315403