Visual psychophysics of congenital ocular toxoplasmosis case

Abstract

Congenital ocular toxoplasmosis is a manifestation of infection by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii that occurs through the placenta. This disease can lead to important visual sequelae. This paper describes a case report that uses visual psychophysics for the alterations of congenital ocular toxoplasmosis. The evaluation was performed in a 30-year-old man, a resident of São Luís (MA), with a history of his mother have had toxoplasmosis in the gestational period. Only at 26 years-old he did the detailed medical evaluation that described a lesion the fovea of the right eye. In the classic clinical examination and in visual psychophysical evaluation, the patient presented normal vision for the left eye. The right eye had low visual acuity (decimal value: 0.028), visual field with scotomas up to 20° of visual angle and alteration of color vision. The study offers safe and relevant medical information for the diagnosis of congenital ocular toxoplasmosis using a low-cost evaluation and with good portability, allowing a functional diagnostic alternative to be applied in places difficult to access in the interior of Brazil.