Skip to main content
PMC home page
The British Journal of Ophthalmology logoLink to The British Journal of Ophthalmology
. 1995 Jun;79(6):558–561. doi: 10.1136/bjo.79.6.558

Foveal electroretinograms and choroidal perfusion characteristics in fellow eyes of patients with unilateral neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

J F Remulla 1, A R Gaudio 1, S Miller 1, M A Sandberg 1
PMCID: PMC505165  PMID: 7542915

Abstract

AIMS/BACKGROUND--A prolonged choroidal filling phase on fluorescein angiography has been reported to be a common finding and associated with visual function abnormalities in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This investigation was carried out to determine whether this perfusion defect was related to the slowing of foveal cone electroretinogram (ERG) implicit time seen in patients with AMD. METHODS--Fluorescein angiograms and foveal cone ERGs were evaluated in the fellow eyes of 67 patients with unilateral neovascular AMD. RESULTS--Twenty eight (42%) of the eyes had a choroidal perfusion defect. ERG implicit times averaged 1 ms slower (p = 0.0167) and were more likely to be delayed (p = 0.0078) in eyes with abnormal choroidal perfusion than in eyes with normal choroidal filling; significant relations were found also after controlling for age. ERG implicit time was also inversely related to ETDRS visual acuity and positively related to the extent of macular drusen; and the latter showed a borderline significant tendency to be more prevalent in eyes with prolonged choroidal perfusion. However, an association of a delayed ERG implicit time with prolonged choroidal filling remained after controlling for age, acuity, and the extent of drusen. CONCLUSION--These findings further establish prolonged choroidal perfusion as a common finding in AMD and link it to retinal malfunction.

Full text

PDF
561

Images in this article

559Image
on p.559
559Image
on p.559

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Böker T., Fang T., Steinmetz R. Refractive error and choroidal perfusion characteristics in patients with choroidal neovascularization and age-related macular degeneration. Ger J Ophthalmol. 1993 Feb;2(1):10–13. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Chen J. C., Fitzke F. W., Pauleikhoff D., Bird A. C. Functional loss in age-related Bruch's membrane change with choroidal perfusion defect. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1992 Feb;33(2):334–340. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Pauleikhoff D., Chen J. C., Chisholm I. H., Bird A. C. Choroidal perfusion abnormality with age-related Bruch's membrane change. Am J Ophthalmol. 1990 Feb 15;109(2):211–217. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9394(14)75989-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Piguet B., Palmvang I. B., Chisholm I. H., Minassian D., Bird A. C. Evolution of age-related macular degeneration with choroidal perfusion abnormality. Am J Ophthalmol. 1992 Jun 15;113(6):657–663. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9394(14)74790-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Sandberg M. A., Gaudio A. R., Miller S., Weiner A. Iris pigmentation and extent of disease in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1994 May;35(6):2734–2740. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Sandberg M. A., Jacobson S. G., Berson E. L. Foveal cone electroretinograms in retinitis pigmentosa and juvenile maular degeneration. Am J Ophthalmol. 1979 Oct;88(4):702–707. doi: 10.1016/0002-9394(79)90669-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Sandberg M. A., Miller S., Gaudio A. R. Foveal cone ERGs in fellow eyes of patients with unilateral neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1993 Nov;34(12):3477–3480. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Sarks J. P., Sarks S. H., Killingsworth M. C. Evolution of geographic atrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium. Eye (Lond) 1988;2(Pt 5):552–577. doi: 10.1038/eye.1988.106. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Staurenghi G., Bottoni F., Lonati C., Autelitano A., Orzalesi N. Drusen and 'choroidal filling defects': a cross-sectional survey. Ophthalmologica. 1992;205(4):178–186. doi: 10.1159/000310337. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Steinmetz R. L., Haimovici R., Jubb C., Fitzke F. W., Bird A. C. Symptomatic abnormalities of dark adaptation in patients with age-related Bruch's membrane change. Br J Ophthalmol. 1993 Sep;77(9):549–554. doi: 10.1136/bjo.77.9.549. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Tolentino M. J., Miller S., Gaudio A. R., Sandberg M. A. Visual field deficits in early age-related macular degeneration. Vision Res. 1994 Feb;34(3):409–413. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(94)90099-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Tso M. O. Pathogenetic factors of aging macular degeneration. Ophthalmology. 1985 May;92(5):628–635. doi: 10.1016/s0161-6420(85)33992-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Weiner A., Sandberg M. A. Normal change in the foveal cone ERG with increasing duration of light exposure. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1991 Sep;32(10):2842–2845. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The British Journal of Ophthalmology are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES