Abstract
Purpose
To investigate the clinical potential of multifocal electroretinography (mf-ERG) for the evaluation of residual retinal function in retinitis pigmentosa (RP).
Methods
From a group of 41 patients with RP examined for full-field and mf-ERGs, 24 patients were selected in whom the full-field ERGs were non-detectable. Data from the mf-ERGs of this group were reviewed retrospectively. Patients were divided into two groups based on best corrected visual acuity (BCVA); Group A, with a BCVA of less than 0.5, and group B with a BCVA greater than 0.5. The amplitudes and implicit times of Ring 1 and Ring 2 among six concentric rings were measured for comparison between mf-ERG groups.
Results
In the mf-ERGs, the amplitudes of Ring 1 and Ring 2 were reduced and implicit time was delayed in all 48 eyes of 24 patients in whom scotopic and photopic responses were non-detectable in full-field ERGs, whereas, there were no detectable responses in Rings 3 thru 6. There was a greater reduction in amplitude and an increased delay in implicit time in group A.
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![]() | Figure 1.The pedigree charts of the subjects' families, A) Three families represented autosomal dominant inheritance, B) One family represented autosomal recessive trait, C) Two families represented X-linked recessive trait. |
![]() | Figure 2.A case of a 52-year-old man whose visual acuity was 0.7 in both eyes. A) Typical fundus findings of retinitis pigmentosa. B) Humphrey perimetry (central 30–2 threshold test) discloses the scotomas of affected areas. Note that only central tunnel vision was remained. C) Rod and Cone response were undetectable in full-field ERGs. Note the 30 Hz flicker response (below 10 μV; noise level). |
![]() | Figure 3.Result of multifocal electoretinogram (mf-ERG) of the same patient in Figure 1 (Right eye, first row; Left eye, second row) Three-dimensional plot of response densities, Ring averages in response density scale, Trace arrays (From left to right column). Sizable ERGs were detected within the central ring 1 and ring 2 using mf ERG techniques (The Amplitude of the red hexagons >1 nV, others <1 nV, noise level). Note that the response pattern is different between both eyes of which visual acuity is the same. |
Table 1.
Comparison of amplitude and latency of average N1, P1 responses between study group* and normal control
Ring 1 |
Ring 2 |
|||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N1‡ |
P1§ |
N1‡ |
P1§ |
|||||
Amplitude(nV/deg2) | Latency(msec) | Amplitude | Latency | Amplitude | Latency | Amplitude | Latency | |
Study group* | −6.35 | 17.02 | 8.504 | 31.78 | −2.273 | 17.10 | 3.56 | 31.82 |
Normal controls† | −53.4 | 16.3 | 109.9 | 30.0 | −33.6 | 15.3 | 60.9 | 29.3 |
Table 2.
Comparison of average responses (N1, P1) between Group A and B in ring 1 and ring 2. Reduced amplitudes and delayed implicit times are noted in group A compared with Group B
Ring 1 |
Ring 2 |
|||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N1‡ |
P1§ |
N1‡ |
P1§ |
|||||
Amplitude | latency | Amplitude | latency | Amplitude | latency | Amplitude | latency | |
Group A* | −6.15 | 17.60 | 3.74 | 32.31 | −1.83 | 17.74 | 1.97 | 32.24 |
Group B† | −6.58 | 16.34 | 14.13 | 31.15 | −2.80 | 16.37 | 5.31 | 31.33 |
P | 0.037 | 0.029 | 0.032 | 0.039 | 0.006 | 0.055 | 0.023 | 0.013 |
Table 3.
Correlation between best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and average responses (N1, P1) in Ring 1 and Ring 2
Ring 1 |
Ring 2 |
|||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N1‡ |
P1§ |
N1‡ |
P1§ |
|||||
Amplitude | latency | Amplitude | latency | Amplitude | latency | Amplitude | latency | |
R* | 0.057 | 0.321† | −0.344† | 0.208 | 0.056 | 0.316† | −0.377† | 0.172 |
P† | 0.700 | 0.026† | <0.001† | 0.157 | 0.705 | 0.029† | 0.01† | 0.243 |