Abstract
The State of the Art is strong - to paraphrase another famous saying. Low vision rehabilitation
(LVR) is today a recognized discipline in Ophthalmology, expanding and improving the
quality of life of numerous visually impaired patients. It was not so about a century
ago when it all started. Then, charity work aimed at helping blind children was all
that LVR was. With advances in science, medicine and public health policy, help for
the blind expanded its reach to all who were visually impaired. Devices and re-training
of skills have been added to complement diagnosis and charity work. Modern LVR, which
took hold in the last few decades, was propelled to new heights by relentless advances
in basic and clinical sciences. Today we can provide significant and meaningful help
to visually impaired patients in most situations. It could be as simple as a hand
magnifier or as intricate as a retinal prosthesis. In many instances it seems to be
just a beginning for things still to come.
La discipline se porte à merveille, pourrait-on dire en résumé. La réadaptation visuelle
est aujourd’hui une discipline reconnue en ophtalmologie. Elle améliore la qualité
de vie de très nombreux patients ayant une déficience visuelle. Il en était tout autrement
quand tout a commencé il y a de cela un siècle environ. De bonnes œuvres venant en
aide aux enfants aveugles, voilà à quoi se résumait la réadaptation visuelle à l’époque.
Avec les progrès de la science, de la médecine et des politiques de santé publique,
l’aide aux aveugles s’est plus tard étendue à toutes les personnes ayant une déficience
visuelle. Des instruments et le perfectionnement professionnel sont venus améliorer
le diagnostic et appuyer le travail des organismes caritatifs. La réadaptation visuelle
moderne, qui s’est développée au cours des dernières décennies, a été propulsée à
de nouveaux sommets par les progrès constants de la recherche fondamentale et clinique.
Les personnes souffrant d’une déficience visuelle peuvent aujourd’hui bénéficier d’une
aide significative dans la plupart des situations. Cela peut aller de la simple loupe
à des interventions aussi complexes que l’implantation d’une prothèse rétinienne.
Et dans de nombreux cas, il semble que ce ne soit que le début de choses encore plus
grandes à venir.
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
November 6,
2015
Received:
May 24,
2015
Footnotes
Presented at the De Markgrave Conference on Low Vision Rehabilitation in Antwerp, Belgium, October 9, 2014, in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of Belgium.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Canadian Ophthalmological Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
