The evaluation of oscillatory potentials of the electroretinogram in the early diagnosis of the patients with primary open angle glaucoma

PURPOSE: To study the changes in the oscillatory potentials (OPs) of the electroretinogram in the earlier or early stage of primary open angle glaucoma. METHODS: OPs were recorded in thirty-three normal subjects (66 eyes) and 30 patients with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) (58 eyes). The abnormal rates of OPs in the different stages of POAG were analyzed and the sensitivity and the specificity of OPs were also determined. RESULTS: The overall OPs amplitudes (sigma o) were reduced in the patients with POAG and the amounts of small wavelets were also decreased. The total abnormal rate of sigma o was 67.24%, and 42.86% in the earlier stage, 65.38% in the early stage and 76.00% in the advanced and late stage. The sensitivity and the specificity of OPs were 67.24% and 92.42%. OPs had correlation with C/D. CONCLUSION: OPs can be considered as an indicator of earlier or early diagnosis of patients with POAG before visual field loss is detected.