Red Desaturation Test

The Hayden Red Desaturation test should be performed on patients who are suspected of having optic nerve disease in one eye. Because the optic nerve is sensitive to red, when it is damaged, the affected eye sees red colors as washed out pink-orange color.

This test should be able to give the practitioner a quantitative measure of red loss in the optic nerve. This is assuming that the non-affected eye is truly unaffected. There is questionable benefits of this test if both eyes are affected with optic nerve disease. I would ask that you email me with any questions, or comments that may help us improve the test.