Interpretation of Lanthony Desaturated Panel D-15 Test in Anomalous Trichromats with Congenital Red-green Color Vision Defects

Purpose: The Lanthony desaturated panel D-15 test (Desaturated test) consists of 16 caps, similar to the Farnsworth dichotomous test (Panel D-15). The color caps of the Desaturated test are lower chroma and higher value than those of the Panel D-15. We evaluated the Desaturated test in anomalous trichromats with congenital red-green color vision defects. Methods: We examined 162 anomalous trichromats (155 males and 7 females) diagnosed by a Nagel Type I anomaloscope. All participants had the pass results in the Panel D-15, 1.0 or better of bestcorrected visual acuity and no ocular disease. Comparisons of the Desaturated-test pass/fail results between protanomalous and deteranomalous trichromats were performed using a chisquare test (with significance at p<0.05). Odds ratio (OR) was calculated. The Desaturated-test pass/fail results were compared between anomalous trichromats aged 7-10 years, and aged 11 or older. Results: Nineteen out of 54 (35.2%) protanomalous trichromats, and 19 out of 108 (17.6%) deteranomalous trichromats had the fail results in the Desaturated test. The discrepancy was significant (OR 2.50, 95% confidence interval 1.1-5.7, p=0.013). The fail ratio in anomalous trichromats aged 7-10 years was much higher than that in anomalous trichromats aged 11 or older. Conclusion: Our results suggest that protanomalous trichromats compared to deteranomalous trichromats, and anomalous trichromats aged 7-10 years compared to aged 11 or older are likely to have the fail results in the Desaturated-test.