PLoS ONE (Jan 2019)

Electroretinograms recorded with skin electrodes in silicone oil-filled eyes.

  • Kimitake Ozaki,
  • Yuji Yoshikawa,
  • Sho Ishikawa,
  • Takeshi Katsumoto,
  • Masayuki Shibuya,
  • Takuhei Shoji,
  • Hiromi Kondo,
  • Soiti Matsumoto,
  • Kei Shinoda

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216823
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 5
p. e0216823

Abstract

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PurposeTo assess the physiology of the retina by electroretinography (ERG) with skin electrodes in eyes that had undergone vitrectomy with silicone oil (SO) tamponade.DesignRetrospective case series.MethodERGs were recorded from eleven eyes with complex vitreoretinal disorders and from the normal fellow eyes. The affected eyes underwent pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) with SO tamponade. ERGs were recorded before and after the SO was removed. The amplitudes and implicit times of the a- and b-waves of the affected eyes were compared to those of the normal fellow eyes. In addition, the ratios of the amplitudes of the b-waves of the affected eyes to those of the fellow eyes were compared before and after the SO was removed.ResultsERGs were recordable from 7 eyes (63.6%) before the SO was removed and 11 eyes (100%) after the SO was removed. The a- and b-wave amplitudes were significantly smaller in the affected eyes than those of the fellow eyes at the baseline. The b-wave amplitude before the removal of the SO was significantly and positively correlated with that after the SO removal. The ratios of the b-waves of the affected/normal fellow eye significantly increased after the SO was removed.ConclusionThe results indicate that ERGs picked up by skin electrode can be used to assess the physiology of the retina in eyes with a SO tamponade. The amplitude of the b-waves of the ERGs in silicone-filled eyes can be used to predict the amplitude after the silicone is removed.