Ocular changes in Alzheimer’s disease

Purpose
In this study the authors present the ocular diseases and bioelectrical dysfunction of the retina and optic nerve in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, based on available literature.

Material and methods
The paper focuses on the most often occurring ocular diseases and optic nerve dysfunction associated with Alzheimer’s disease measured by ERG, PERG and VEP tests.

Results
The most common ocular diseases in Alzheimer’s disease are glaucoma, cataract and AMD. Electrophysiological tests can be abnormal in patients with Alzheimer’s disease even with normal eye fundus in routine ophthalmic examination.

Conclusions
Early diagnosis of ocular changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease can prevent from significant loss of vision and can prolong self-reliant existence of patients with this disease. Electrophysiological tests are expected to be helpful in differentiation between patients with early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and healthy people or people suffering from other types of dementia or mental diseases. Future research to estimate the diagnostic value of this tests are needed.