Abstract
Sixty-nine cases of optic nerve atrophy were examined electrophysiologically. 42% displayed enhanced ERGs together with reduced or absent visual evoked potentials. Eight cases of these with conditions resulting from blunt head injury, brain tumor, encephalitis and multiple sclerosis are presented in detail.
The distribution of the b-wave and a-wave amplitudes of the pathological ERG was studied and compared with normal ERGs. The b-wave was taken as criterion for retinal sensitivity for reasons explained. Possible underlying mechanisms of the electrophysiological data are speculated considering that 55% of the cases displayed reduced ERGs. The data seem to support the hypothesis that in the intact visual system impulses propagated along centrifugal optic nerve fibers inhibit retinal activity at the bipolar cell level, an effect rivaled by the growing retinal sensitivity during dark adaptation. In the absence of the efferent effect in optic nerve involvement, the ERG recovery would be unrivaled resulting in enhanced ERGs. An inhibition of this assumed inhibitory feedback on the retina by light adaptation is postulated and supported by evidence from animal experiments found in the literature. This hypothesis and alternative hypotheses are applied to the cases examined.
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Feinsod, M., Rowe, H. & Auerbach, E. Changes in the electroretinogram in patients with optic nerve lesions. Doc Ophthalmol 29, 169–200 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02456520
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02456520