Cortical Contrast Processing in Retinitis Pigmentosa: Evidence of PVEPs Spatial Functions

To study the effect of check width size of the stimuli on the amplitude and latency of the P100 component of visual evoked potentials recorded in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

Pattern reversal visual evoked potentials (PVEPs) were recorded in 16 RP patients and 20 visually normal subjects. Pattern reversal stimuli with five different check widths and 100% of contrast were projected in the right eye of both patients and control subjects. PVEPs induced by stimuli with 78%, 16%, and 6% of contrast were also recorded in 10 of the control subjects.

In RP patients, the amplitude of P100 was smaller than controls in all check sized used and the peak P100 amplitude was obtained with a larger check width than in controls. P100 was also delayed in RP patients in all check sizes studied. The P100 amplitude- and latency-check size functions of RP patients were like those found in control subjects with low contrast stimuli of 16% and 6%.

The PVEPs spatial functions of RP patients show quantitative and qualitative changes, suggesting disease induced alteration in the neural processing of stimulus contrast.