title: VEP projections in congenital nystagmus; VEP asymmetry in albinism: a comparison study.
abstract: Visual evoked potential (VEP) asymmetry in which a preponderance of nasal and temporal retina afferents project to the contralateral hemisphere after full-field monocular stimulation is considered specific to albinism. Some reports, however, suggest that patients with congenital nystagmus (CN) share the albino-like visual pathway anomaly. To examine the clinical specificity of albino misrouting, VEP topography was assessed in ten patients with congenital nystagmus and in ten age-matched albino patients. As an additional control, the VEP response profiles from eight albino patients with no nystagmus were also evaluated. The results are definitive; VEP contralateral asymmetry reflecting temporal retinal misprojection is evinced only in albino patients. Furthermore, ocular-motor instabilities in CN cannot be readily attributed to albino-type misrouted retinal-cortical projections.
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Ophthalmic Research Institute, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Apkarian
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shallo-Hoffmann
mesh_terms: D000417:Albinism / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D006801:Humans; D009759:Nystagmus, Pathologic / Q000150:complications / Q000151:congenital / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D009435:Synaptic Transmission