[Impairment of retinal function in acute thallium poisoning]

In case of an acute intoxication by thallium accompanied by a severe loss of visual acuity and deficiency of the visual field, ERG changes were found, even though the fundus appeared to be normal. The scotopic b-wave amplitude was hypernormal and the amplitude-intensity relation of the b-wave component was pathologic. Therefore, it seems that the toxic action of thallium is also concentrated in the retina, possibly resulting in an ascendent (retinal) atrophy of the optic nerve.