The pattern electroretinogram and the pattern visually evoked potentials in disorders of the optic nerve : an electrophysiological and clinical study

textabstractThe aim of this thesis is to study the PERG in relation to the PVEP in disorders of the optie nerve to find out whether in affeelions causing optie nerve atrophy not only the PVEPs, but by retrograde degeneration, also the PERGs could be disturbed. In the optie nerve disturbances examined in this study the classicalluminance ERG, originating in receptor and bi po lar celllayer, remains normal. lf the PERG, as often supposed, is elieited in the ganglion celllayer, a ganglion cel! disfunction could be reflected in the PERG. For this purpose correlations between PERG peak amplitudes and latencies on the one hand and optie disc changes as wel! as visual field loss on the other were studied. Special attention was paid to the presence and degree of pallor (nerve libre loss) of the optie disc