Abstract
To investigate the changes of pattern electroretinogram (PERG) after intraocular pressure lowering in glaucoma patients and normal controls. Interventional retrospective cross-sectional study. Twenty-five patients (49 eyes) with ocular hypertension or glaucoma undergoing topical treatment to lower IOP served as a study group; 22 patients (44 eyes) with ocular hypertension or glaucoma observed without treatment served as a control group for treated glaucoma patients; 9 normal subjects (18 eyes) receiving a 250-mg acetazolamide tablet served as a second study group; and 17 normal subjects (34 eyes) from a previous study served as a second control group for treated normal subjects. Pattern electroretinograms were recorded simultaneously from both eyes using skin electrodes and automated analysis. Visual field (VF) analyses were performed with white-on-white standard automated perimetry (SAP). Intraocular pressure was measured with Goldmann applanation tonometry; central corneal thickness was measured with pachymetry. Pattern electroretinogram amplitude (microvolts), phase (π rads), and test-retest variability (test 2-to-test 1 ratio, in decibels), SAP mean deviation (decibels), and IOP (millimeters of mercury). In 56% of right eyes and 21% of left eyes of the treated glaucoma subgroup, the PERG amplitude and/or phase improved beyond the 95% confidence intervals of the test-retest variability of the untreated glaucoma control group. Pattern electroretinogram improvement with IOP lowering occurred in both high- and low-tension glaucoma eyes. Eyes with severely impaired VFs showed little improvement in PERG; however, eyes of normal subjects treated with acetazolamide did not show significant PERG changes relative to the test-retest variability of normal controls. Retinal ganglion cell function can be at least partially restored after IOP reduction in glaucomatous eyes with early VF impairment.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 20-27 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Ophthalmology |
Volume | 112 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2005 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ophthalmology