INFLUENCE OF PRESBYOPIA ON VERGENCE, LOSS OF CILIARY INNERVATION WITHAGE

Background Due to accommodation -vergence cross -link we can expect th at presbyopia will affect vergence as well. From investigations of cro ss -link as function of age one may assess strain of visual system due to presbyopia. Furthermore, this observation will give hints on inner vation of ciliary muscle. Material and method Vergence is assessed as function of stimulus of accommodation in 27 subjects (24-65 years). Re sults Presbyops tend to be exophoric for near vision. Vergence is link ed to accommodation by means of a quadratic polynome rather than by a linear function. Conclusions We may expect, that missing vergence stra ins visual system of presbyops. Results support Hess-Gullstrand theory of presbyopia and indicate a loss of innervation of ciliary muscle wi th increasing age.