title: The Effects of Aging on the Multifocal Electroretinogram.
abstract: Purpose: In order to use multifocal electroretinogram (m-ERG) for clinical assessment, we investigated the effects of aging on waves of the first and second order kernels of the m-ERG.Subjects and Methods: m-ERGs were recorded from 93 eyes (refractive error 0 to -3. 0 D) of 56 normal subjects (range, 12-79, mean, 44.2 +/- 20. 7 years of age) using the Visual Evoked Response Imaging System (VERIS Science((R)), version 3.0.1). We analyzed effects of aging on the response densities and the peak latencies of the first positive wave (P 1) of the first order kernel and the second and third positive waves (P 2 and P 3) of the second order kernel.Results: The response densities of the P 1 and P 2 waves significantly decreased, and the peak latencies of the P 1, P 2 and P 3 were significantly prolonged (P < 0.05) in the subjects above 50 years old.Conclusion: The results suggested that the aging effect on the m-ERG should be considered when evaluating retinal function using m-ERGs in basic and clinical studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Iwate Medical University School of Medicine, Morioka, Japan
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nabeshima