Mid-peripheral pattern electrical retinal responses in normals, glaucoma suspects, and glaucoma patients

Reliance on intraocular pressure, optic nerve cupping changes, nerve fibre layer integrity, and visual field changes may delay treatment of glaucoma since irreversible changes may have already occurred at the time of diagnosis. Abnormal pattern electrical retinal responses (PERR or PERG) have been demonstrated in patients with ocular hypertension (no visual field changes) and glaucoma when visual stimulation was presented to the central field. Since glaucomatous visual field changes tend to occur first in the mid-periphery, the use of PERR outside of the central field may offer an earlier indication of glaucomatous involvement.

Glaucoma suspects and glaucoma patients were derived from a university practice. Normal subjects were recruited from non-patient volunteers. Alternating bar gratings were presented in the supranasal, supratemporal, infratemporal, and infranasal visual field. Six spatial frequencies, from 0.25 to 6.0 cycles per degree, were used for normal volunteers; three spatial frequencies, from 0.38 to 1.5 cycles per degree, were presented to suspects and glaucoma patients. Time of onset of the first negative (N35) and first positive peak (P50) and the amplitude consisting of the absolute difference between the first negative peak and first positive peak (P50 amplitude) are reported. Age corrected values were determined for normals, suspects, and glaucoma patients for each spatial frequency and for each quadrant in the visual field.

Mean P50 amplitudes from normal subjects showed spatial tuning in all quadrants with reduced low frequency attenuation. Normals demonstrated a small decline in amplitude with age. Glaucoma patients demonstrated an age corrected reduction in amplitude and early implicit times. Glaucoma suspects had values between those of normal and glaucoma subjects. P50 amplitudes were weakly correlated with increasing cup to disc diameter ratio. A glaucoma patient with asymmetric visual field loss demonstrated significant diminution of the PERR bilaterally.

The PERR, using mid-peripheral stimulation, may be a sensitive tool for the early detection of glaucoma. Further refinements can speed clinical data acquisition and enhance signal to noise ratio.