The C wave was recorded from 20 eyes suffering from neuritis due to demyelinating disease and in 5 eyes showing optic atrophy due to trauma or to increased intracranial pressure. Our results show that in cases with optic neuritis the C wave amplitude was clearly lower than normal. It is interesting that in the other ‘healthy’, at least clinically, eye the C wave was subnormal too. On the contrary, in the eyes with optic atrophy the C wave was normal. These findings are against the possibility of an efferent neuronal pathway involvement, which influences the level of the retinal pigment epithelium, and support the view of its involvement during the course of the demyelinating disease that causes the optic neuritis.
Patients suffering from chronic viral hepatitis, treated with interferon alpha-2b in a dose of 3 million units trice weekly subcutaneously, were studied. The influence of interferon on the optic nerve was evaluated by measuring the P100 implicit time of the visual evoked potentials. The results before the treatment were compared with those after 6 and 12 months of therapy, as well as with those of normal subjects. There were statistically significant differences between the groups. Furthermore, in 10 of 56 eyes (17.8%) after 6 months of treatment, and 8 of 22 eyes (36.3%) after 12 months of treatment, the P100 was abnormally delayed. The long term neurovisual effects of low-dose interferon are currently under investigation.
Pattern ERG (P-ERG) changes were studied in patients with suspected glaucoma. P-ERG was recorded in 48 eyes with good visual acuity, normal visual fields and elevated intraocular pressure ranging between 18 and 26 mm Hg. The amplitude of the P1 wave was within normal limits and ranged between 1.0 and 1.9 μV in 46 eyes (95.8%). In contrast, the amplitude of the N2 wave in 32 eyes (66.6%) was subnormal, ranging between 0.2 and 0.8 μV. The implicit time of the P1 and N2 waves was normal, ranging from 60.1 to 69.4 and from 95.1 to 103.8 ms, respectively. In conclusion, the N2 wave changes of the P-ERG may predict those hypertonic eyes which will eventually develop glaucoma and need early antiglaucoma therapy. On the contrary, in ocular hypertensives with normal N2 wave the development of glaucoma is less likely.
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