Biofeedback Rehabilitation and Visual Cortex Response in Stargardt's Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Methods: This was a single-center, controlled, randomized study. Twenty-four patients with STGD1 were randomized into two groups: a treatment group (TG) undergoing BF rehabilitation and a control group (CG). Treatment with BF consisted of a 10-minute session per eye performed weekly for 12 weeks. The subjects underwent a baseline and 3-month follow-up visits, including best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), reading test, microperimetry, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The fMRI studies were acquired sequentially using a passive viewing condition and an active reading task. The primary outcomes were the change in the fMRI activation of primary visual cortex and the change in reading ability.

Purpose: to evaluate the effect of biofeedback (BF) rehabilitation on the visual function and on the activity of primary visual cortex (PVC) in patients with Stargardt's disease owing to mutations in the ABCA4 gene (STGD1).