title: The electroretinogram in retinitis pigmentosa.
abstract: Examination of electroretinographic (ERG) reports from 70 consecutive patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) showed that photopic and scotopic B-wave amplitudes correlated with age and visual acuity, but not with dark adaptation threshold. No appreciable differences in ERG characteristics (including B-wave implicit time) were observed between recessive, dominant, and X-linked cases. However, the ERG findings from one group of patients stood out clearly from the rest, because of normal flicker B-wave implicit times (less than or equal to 32 ms) and large B-wave amplitudes (less than or equal to 100 muV under scotopic conditions). These patients constitute a recognizable subgroup of RP, independent of the mode of inheritance, which is characterized by delimited disease, mild functional symptoms, and a good visual prognosis.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D025063:Chromosome Disorders; D003623:Dark Adaptation; D004596:Electroretinography; D005260:Female; D005799:Genes, Dominant; D005808:Genes, Recessive; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010786:Photoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D012174:Retinitis Pigmentosa / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014792:Visual Acuity