AMD: Reading ability crucial indicator of functional loss

In geographic atrophy, a late form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), reading ability is closely related to the altered retinal structure. Reading speed makes everyday functional impairment measurable, which the most common functional test in ophthalmology -- the best-corrected visual acuity assessment - cannot reflect. Retinal imaging can be used to assess loss of reading ability even when central visual acuity is still good.