Test-retest reliability and inter-ocular symmetry of multi-focal electroretinography in Stargardt disease.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate test-retest reliability and inter-ocular symmetry of multi-focal electroretinography recordings in Stargardt disease and in patients without retinal pathology.


METHODS
Multi-focal electroretinography were recorded with continuous fundus monitoring using the VERIS multifocal recording system using an array of 103 hexagons spanning 50 degrees of central retina. Recordings were made sequentially from one eye (test-retest) followed by recordings from the fellow eye. A departure score, expressed as a percentage difference from the first recording (or from the fellow eye), was calculated for each comparison and parameter.


RESULTS
Multi-focal electroretinography response topographies were similar within and between eyes for a particular individual and parameter. However, local response variability within and between eyes was significantly higher in Stargardt disease than in patients without retinal pathology for both amplitude and timing parameters. Amplitude variability in Stargardt disease decreased with more peripheral targets and with larger stimuli but never to the levels achieved with normal observers.


CONCLUSIONS
Both test-retest reliability and inter-ocular symmetry of multi-focal electroretinography responses were significantly lower in Stargardt disease compared to normal eyes, a finding attributable primarily to unsteady fixation. The greater variability between eyes in Stargardt disease may also reflect pathological differences in the topography of retinal function. This inherent variability must be taken into consideration if the multi-focal electroretinography is to be sufficiently sensitive to reliably detect small differences in retinal function.
Tosha
Chinatsu
C
Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.
Gorin
Michael B
MB
Nusinowitz
Steven
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004596:Electroretinography; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012160:Retina / Q000503:physiopathology*