Repeatability of full-field electroretinography parameters in patients with unilateral retinal vasculitis

Abstract

Purpose : The impact of presence of ocular inflammation on the repeatability of full-field electroretinography (ffERG) parameters are unclear. Repeatability of ffERG testing is of significance in the functional assessment of patients with retinal vasculitis (RV). The present cross-sectional study investigated intra-visit repeatability of ffERG parameters in patients with RV.

Methods : Medical records of patients who were diagnosed with unilateral RV and underwent ffERG from December 2018 to August 2022 were included. RV was diagnosed based on wide-angle fluorescein angiography (WAFA). Angiography Scoring for Uveitis Working Group (ASUWOG) score was utilized to grade the severity of RV in affected eyes. ffERG testing using the Diagnosys® device was performed two times consecutively by the same operator, using the same settings in each session according to the International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision (ISCEV) recommendation. Repeatability of 14 parameters included amplitude and implicit parameters of dark adapted (DA) 0.01, 3, 3 oscillatory potentials (OP), DA 10, light adapted (LA) 3, LA 3 OP and LA 30 Hz flicker was assessed by using the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). ICC values of the amplitude and the implicit time were compared between eyes with RV and healthy fellow eyes. ICC values of the amplitude were also compared with those of the implicit time.

Results : A total of 17 patients (6 males and 11 females) with a median age of 33 (18-55) were included. ASUWOG score was 11.7±5.8 in the affected eyes. There was no statistically significant difference between the eyes with RV and healthy fellow eyes in terms of visual acuity (LogMAR 0.07±0.11 vs. 0.04±0.09, p=0.186) and central subfield macular thickness (297.5±102.0 μm vs. 265.5±42.1 μm, p=0.084). Mean ICC of seven amplitude parameters was 0.948±0.028 in eyes with RV and 0.948 ±0.027 in the healthy fellow eyes (p=0.495). Similarly, mean ICC of seven implicit time parameters was 0.850 ±0.084 in eyes with RV and 0.815 ±0.129 in healthy fellow eyes (p=0.224). Mean ICC of seven amplitude parameters in both eyes was 0.948±0.026, which was higher than mean ICC of 0.833±0.103 in seven implicit time parameters (p<0.001).

Conclusions : Repeatability of ffERG parameters is maintained similarly in eyes with RV and healthy fellow eyes. The amplitude parameters have higher repeatability than the implicit time parameters.

This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.