Purpose: To test if patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) have normal panretinal function using standardized full-field electroretinograms (ERGs).
Methods: This is a retrospective study evaluating electroretinographic studies performed in patients with AMD to assess their panretinal function. Fifty-two individuals 55 years or older had standardized ERG testing and fundus photographs.
Results: The study group was aged 57 to 93 years old with a mean of 75.7, and the controls ranged from 79 to 87 years with a mean of 81.4. On average, the photopic, scotopic, dark-adapted bright-flash, and flicker function response amplitudes are lower with longer implicit times in the study group than the controls. The most pronounced differences were seen with the bright-flash dark-adapted a-waves and the photopic b-wave amplitudes. Forty-three of 104 eyes had abnormal photopic b-wave ERGs of more than 2 SD compared to controls. The mean of the photopic b-wave amplitudes for the study group was 76.7 +/- 36.2 muV (1 SD) compared to 91.4 +/- 16.9 muV (1 SD) for the control group. This finding was statistically significant with P = .0269 by the Student t test and P = .0336 by the Wilcoxon test.
Conclusions: There is a subgroup of AMD patients with a panretinal cone dysfunction on ERG in association with their macular degeneration. Previous studies have shown varied results when looking at ERG changes in AMD, likely reflecting the underlying complexity of this disorder. Using standardized ERG to identify a more homogeneous subgroup of AMD patients with panretinal dysfunction will aid in better characterizing subtypes clinically and is likely to be valuable in identifying new genes contributing to AMD.