Methodologic dependence of electroretinogram oscillatory potential amplitudes

The International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision (ISCEV) protocol for eliciting oscillatory potentials uses a considerably lower flash intensity and a different preconditioning stimulus than the only oscillatory potential protocol used to predict progression of diabetic retinopathy. To determine if the ISCEV protocol will be useful in predicting progression of diabetic retinopathy, summed oscillatory potential amplitudes were measured by both protocols in a population of diabetics. Summed oscillatory potential amplitudes measured by the ISCEV protocol, although smaller, are highly correlated with the summed oscillatory potential amplitudes measured with the higher-intensity flash. Thus, summed oscillatory potential amplitudes measured with the ISCEV protocol should be useful in predicting outcome in diabetic retinopathy. Different signal processing filters used to extract oscillatory potentials from the electroretinogram waveform have a small, but significant, effect on summed oscillatory potential amplitude. Use of the caliper-square method or the summed peak-to-trough method for measuring oscillatory potential heights had an insignificant effect on measured oscillatory potential amplitude.