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Abstract
PURPOSE: The blue-sensitive pathway in normal subjects and in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) was tested with the pattern visual evoked potential (VEP) method under selective adaptation. METHODS: Recording of pattern-onset VEP in response to blue (460-nm) stripes (0.88 c/deg) presented either without or with a bright yellow (570-nm) adaptation light (Maxwellian view, 33 degree diameter). Amplitude and peak times were evaluated, and the mean tritan score of the Farnsworth 100-hue test was determined. Age-matched normal subjects (n = 34) and (n = 32) patients with POAG were examined. RESULTS: The amplitude and peak time of the VEP without selective adaptation did not discriminate normal subjects from the POAG group. With selective adaptation, the amplitude was reduced (P = 0.002) and its peak time delayed (P < 0.0001) in POAG, yielding a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 94%. The VEP measures only under selective adaptation correlated significantly in patients with POAG with the mean perimetric defect, with the optic disc damage, and with the 100-hue test. CONCLUSIONS: Recording the blue-on-yellow VEP is a useful test in glaucoma research.