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Ophthalmic electrophysiology …
- Updated 09.12.2024
- Expires For CME 09.12.2027
Ophthalmic electrophysiology
Introduction
Overview
Electrophysiologic testing evaluates the function of the retina and the rest of the optic pathway by measuring responses to visual stimuli. This testing includes visual evoked potentials and electroretinography. Such tests can help determine if the retina or optic nerve is injured. Electrophysiologic testing is also useful in identifying psychogenic vision loss.
Visual evoked potentials
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• Visual evoked potentials supplement structural testing with the ability to evaluate the function of the optic pathway, including quantifying the conduction time of the optic nerve. | |
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• Electroretinography also assists in quantifying and localizing visual field loss and in distinguishing retinal from optic nerve pathology. | |
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• The pattern-reversal visual evoked potential test is a fast and cost-effective noninvasive clinical procedure that provides information about optic nerve conduction time. | |
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• A delayed response of pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials is characteristic of demyelinating optic neuritis. However, a delayed response is not specific to optic neuritis and can occur in other conditions, such as compressive optic neuropathy, other inflammatory or infectious optic neuropathy, retinal macular diseases, and poor recording conditions. | |
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• The multifocal visual evoked potential test records visual evoked potential responses from multiple field locations simultaneously and is more sensitive than the conventional pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials in revealing mild defects; however, this test is time-consuming and has limited availability in a clinical setting. |
Overview
Visual evoked potentials record electrical responses to visual stimuli that are transmitted to scalp electrodes placed near the occipital visual cortex. The integrity of the visual pathway is evaluated from the retina to the primary visual cortex. The patient looks at a screen displaying various stimuli. The visual cortical responses are measured as each eye individually views the screen.
Pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials stimulated by contrast-reversing checkerboard patterns are commonly used for the evaluation of optic nerve function.
Historical note and terminology
In 1972, Halliday and colleagues first reported a delayed visual evoked potential response in optic neuritis. The delay persisted after visual acuity had returned to normal (07). In 1973, these investigators further demonstrated the value of delayed visual evoked potentials in revealing subclinical lesions in patients with multiple sclerosis who did not have a history of optic neuritis (08).
Technique
Pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials. In this test, the stimulus display consists of a high-contrast checkerboard pattern with uniform check sizes. The black and white checks reverse polarity. A single midline channel recording with an active electrode at the occiput (Oz), a reference electrode at Fz, and a ground electrode at the forehead or earlobe are usually used for assessing optic nerve function.
The typical pattern-reversal visual evoked potential waveform consists of an initial negative peak (N75) followed by a large positive peak (P100) and a second negative peak (N135). The most commonly used parameters are P100 implicit time (often called latency) measured from the stimulus onset to the positive peak and P100 amplitude (also called N75-P100 amplitude) measured from the N75 trough to the P100 peak.
Multifocal visual evoked potentials. Multifocal visual evoked potentials differ from pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials. The pattern-reversal visual evoked potential signal represents a summed response predominantly from the foveal and inferior visual field regions. Therefore, it does not provide topographic information and may miss local defects. The multifocal visual evoked potential technique permits simultaneous recording of visual evoked potentials from multiple locations (03; 12), a method that may be more sensitive than conventional pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials (01).
Multifocal visual evoked potential technique for interocular comparison
(A) Multifocal visual evoked potential stimulus contains 60 sectors of black and white checks (one sector shown in red). (B) Multifocal visual evoked potential responses from the right eye (blue) and the left eye (red) of a nor...
Indications
This test is useful when the diagnosis of optic neuropathy is unclear or may include concern for retinal disease. Although usually unnecessary in the diagnosis of optic neuritis, it serves as a supplement to the physical exam. This test can also be utilized in cases in which there is uncertainty regarding psychogenic vision loss or when the subjective tests are inconclusive or inconsistent with other clinical findings.
Results
Optic neuritis. The pattern-reversal visual evoked potential typically shows a delay in latency greater than 10 milliseconds with less marked amplitude change. However, a delayed latency is neither 100% sensitive nor specific to multiple sclerosis–related optic neuritis. Delayed latency in the same range as that of optic neuritis has been reported in other conditions, including neuromyelitis optica and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, compressive optic neuropathy, neurosarcoidosis, Behcet disease, neurosyphilis, hereditary optic neuropathies, and retinal macular diseases (04; 02). It is important to rule out retinal macular disease in any patient with a delayed visual evoked potential (11).
The 2017 revision of the McDonald Criteria for multiple sclerosis diagnosis included a P100 latency prolongation in a patient reporting a previous episode of self-limited, painful, monocular visual impairment (21). When pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials findings are normal, the multifocal visual evoked potential test may reveal mild localized defects not shown by pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials (16).
Nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. Differentiating optic neuritis from other optic nerve disorders can be challenging in patients with nonclassical presentations (older age, male sex, lack of periocular pain, swollen optic disc, severe loss of vision, or binocular involvement). When optic nerve swelling is present without pain on eye movement, a delayed pattern-reversal visual evoked potential latency may favor the diagnosis of optic neuritis over non-arteritic ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) (11; 13). In NAION, pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials usually show a reduced amplitude without a large delay in latency. For instance, Cox and colleagues showed a mean 21 ms delay in optic neuritis versus 3 ms for NAION (05). Pattern-reversal visual evoked potential amplitude and latency are normal in the unaffected fellow eye of patients with NAION. By contrast, delayed latency may be observed in the asymptomatic fellow eye of patients with optic neuritis, indicating subclinical demyelination.
Compressive optic neuropathy. A delayed pattern-reversal visual evoked potential latency is not pathognomonic for optic neuritis. Compressive optic neuropathy is another common pathology associated with increased latency (11; 10). A retrospective study reported an initial diagnostic error in 71.4% of the 35 patients with unilateral optic nerve sheath meningioma (14). Nearly half of the erroneous cases were diagnosed as optic neuritis. Accurate diagnosis depends on adequate imaging and interpretation of brain and orbit MRI with contrast.
Limitations
Pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials require an alert and cooperative patient. The testing administration also requires specially trained technicians. Caution should be taken in patients with seizure disorders triggered by flashing lights or patterns (avoid 10 to 13 Hz, which may induce seizures). Patients with poor fixation or those inattentive to the test may provide unreliable results, so a fixation laser pointer may be beneficial.
Scientific basis
Delayed pattern-reversal visual evoked potential latency has long been considered to reflect the extent of demyelination. In a rat model of lysolecithin-induced optic nerve demyelination, the magnitude of delay correlated with the length of demyelination (23). The time period during which latency shortening occurs after an acute optic neuritis corresponds to the period of remyelination observed in human postmortem tissues (19). Pattern-reversal visual evoked potential latency has been used in several clinical trials of potential remyelination agents as an outcome measure for remyelination (17; 02).
Amplitude reduction in the acute phase of optic nerve inflammation is believed to reflect temporal conduction block in optic nerve axons. Reversal of conduction block leads to amplitude recovery over the following weeks--the same period of time when resolution of MRI enhancement occurs (09). After resolution of acute optic neuritis, amplitude reduction reflects axonal loss or impaired conduction in surviving axons. The pattern-reversal visual evoked potential amplitude in eyes with optic neuritis occurring more than 6 months earlier correlated with axonal loss measured by optical coherence tomography (15; 18) and MRI (22).
Electroretinography
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• Full-field electroretinography testing can evaluate peripheral or generalized vision loss, whereas multifocal electroretinography tests 250 locations in the central 30 degrees of vision. | |
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• Electroretinography assists in the distinction between retinal or optic nerve lesions and is useful in evaluating toxic retinopathies. |
Overview
An electroretinogram measures the electrical activity of the retina. The patient wears a contact lens containing electrodes that record the potential in response to a stimulus. There are two kinds of electroretinography: full-field and multifocal. Both tests are used to identify retinal disease in patients with vision loss.
Historical note and terminology
In experimental work on cats, Granit established an understanding of the electroretinogram and its underlying components (06), for which he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1967.
Technique
The patient is dark adapted for at least 15 to 30 minutes (98% dark adaptation occurs in most subjects at 30 minutes). An active electrode (contact lens, thread) is placed on an anesthetized cornea or skin. A stimulus is then shown to the entire retina or the central retina, and response waveforms are produced.
Indications
Electroretinography is most applicable to patients with suspected rod-cone dystrophy, toxic retinopathies including hydroxychloroquine, and cancer retinopathies. This testing is also helpful in patients with abnormal visual evoked potentials to assist in quantifying the dysfunction.
Results
Full-field electroretinography. This electroretinography test measures the response of a stimulus presented to the entire retina. It produces a waveform that includes an A wave (negative), which stems from the photoreceptor layer in the outer retina, and a B wave (positive), which is derived from the Muller and bipolar cells of the inner retina. Rod and cone receptors can be distinguished by varying the stimuli and the completeness of adaptation.
When retinal function deteriorates, the light-induced electrical activity in the retina decreases. Amplitude is measured from the trough of the A wave to the peak of the B wave and is more variable than latency. Latency, or B-wave implicit time, is measured from onset of stimulus to peak of the B wave.
If 20% or more of the span of the retina is affected, the full-field electroretinogram will become abnormal. Thus, even a patient with severe macular degeneration or other retinal causes of central scotomas will have a normal full-field electroretinogram. The electroretinography is normal in optic neuropathies.
Multifocal electroretinography. Developed by Sutter in 1991 (20), the multifocal electroretinography is designed to detect local retinal abnormalities. Examples are early hydroxychloroquine retinal toxicity, retinal cone dystrophies, as well as diagnosing and distinguishing among the various punctate chorioretinopathies (“white dot syndromes”). It can also be used to monitor patients who have extinguished full-field electroretinography. These data can correlate electrophysiologic findings with visual field testing. Small scotomas in the retina can be mapped, the degree of retinal dysfunction can be quantified, and up to 103 separate locations (67 degrees) can be assessed in the central retina.
Rather than displaying a mass response that reflects a summation of retinal activity, the exam multifocal electroretinography records signals separately from up to 250 retinal locations in the central 30 degrees.
Hydroxychloroquine toxicity
Hydroxychloroquine, which is commonly used to treat discoid or systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, dermatological disorders, and Sjogren syndrome, can be toxic to the retina, producing ring scotomas as well as foveola damage. Multifocal electroretinography is superior to full-field electroretinography in identifying and quantifying retinal toxicity.
Retinal versus optic nerve lesions
In patients with visual acuity loss, a combination of the multifocal electroretinography and pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials can be used to discern whether visual loss is due to cone dystrophy or optic neuropathy.
Branch retinal artery occlusion
A localized decrease in multifocal electroretinography amplitude is seen in branch retinal artery occlusion corresponding to the segmental infarction. The amplitude remains decreased after the retina returns to its normal appearance on ophthalmoscopy.
Multifocal chorioretinal inflammations
There are many types of chorioretinal inflammations, which are distinguished, in part, on the basis of the appearance of the optic fundus on ophthalmoscopy. One example is multiple evanescent white dot syndrome. It can present with photopsia and an enlarged blind spot on visual field perimetry. The multifocal electroretinography can detect foci of reduced amplitude below the resolution of ophthalmoscopy.
Limitations
The pupils must be dilated for this test. The test requires specially trained technicians and equipment typically found at higher-level referral centers. Testing is time-consuming and requires patient cooperation and understanding to prevent wandering fixation, which will alter the response.
Table 1. Electrophysiological tests
|
Test |
Subtest |
Principle |
Utility |
|
Visual evoked potentials | |||
|
|
Pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials |
Registers summated electrical responses from the occipital visual cortex to visual stimuli |
Assessing presence of any optic neuropathy and differentiating optic neuropathy from retinopathy |
|
|
Differentiating optic neuritis from ischemic optic neuropathy | ||
|
|
Multifocal visual evoked potentials |
Registers local electrical responses from the occipital visual cortex to visual stimuli |
More sensitive than pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials in detecting subtle or localized optic neuropathy |
|
Full-field flash electroretinogram | |||
|
|
Records summated electrical potential from the entire expanse of retina |
Detecting extensive outer retinopathy | |
|
Multifocal electroretinogram | |||
|
|
Evaluates cones in the central retina using mathematical sequences of binary m-sequences that can extract hundreds of focal electroretinograms from a single electrical signal; allows assessment of cone electrical activity; and displays the distribution of the central retinal dysfunction |
Detecting focal retinopathy | |
Media
References
- 01
- Alshowaeir D, Yannikas C, Garrick R, et al. Multifocal VEP assessment of optic neuritis evolution. Clin Neurophysiol 2015;126(8):1617-23. PMID 25481337
- 02
- Barton JL, Garber JY, Klistorner A, Barnett MH. The electrophysiological assessment of visual function in multiple sclerosis. Clin Neurophysiol Pract 2019;4:90-6. PMID 31193661
- 03
- Baseler HA, Sutter EE, Klein SA, Carney T. The topography of visual evoked response properties across the visual field. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 1994;90:65-81. PMID 7509275
- 04
- Brigell MG. The visual evoked potential. In: Fishman GA, Birch DG, Holder GE, Brigell MG, editors. Electrophysiologic testing in disorders of the retina, optic nerve, and visual pathway. 2nd ed. San Francisco, CA: American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2001:237-79.
- 05
- Cox TA, Thompson HS, Hayreh SS, Snyder JE. Visual evoked potential and pupillary signs. A comparison in optic nerve disease. Arch Ophthalmol 1982;100(10):1603-7. PMID 7138329
- 06
- Granit R. The components of the retinal action potential in mammals and their relation to the discharge in the optic nerve. J Physiol 1933;77(3):207-39. PMID 16994385
- 07
- Halliday AM, McDonald WI, Mushin J. Delayed visual evoked response in optic neuritis. Lancet 1972;1(7758):982-5. PMID 4112367
- 08
- Halliday AM, McDonald WI, Mushin J. Visual evoked response in diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Br Med J 1973;4:661-4. PMID 4758547
- 09
- Hickman SJ, Toosy AT, Miszkiel KA, et al. Visual recovery following acute optic neuritis--a clinical, electrophysiological and magnetic resonance imaging study. J Neurol 2004;251:996-1005. PMID 15316805
- 10
- Hidajat RR, McLay JL, Goode DH, Hidayat JR. The value of VEP in the diagnosis and post-operative monitoring of meningioma. Doc Ophthalmol 2006;113(3):165-9. PMID 17019611
- 11
- Holder GE. Electrophysiological assessment of optic nerve disease. Eye (Lond) 2004;18:1133-43. PMID 15534599
- 12
- Hood DC, Greenstein VC. Multifocal VEP and ganglion cell damage: applications and limitations for the study of glaucoma. Prog Retin Eye Res 2003;22:201-51. PMID 12604058
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- 14
- Kahraman-Koytak P, Bruce BB, Peragallo JH, Newman NJ, Biousse V. Diagnostic errors in initial misdiagnosis of optic nerve sheath meningiomas. JAMA Neurol 2019;76(3):326-32. PMID 30556835
- 15
- Klistorner A, Arvind H, Garrick R, Graham SL, Paine M, Yiannikas C. Interrelationship of optical coherence tomography and multifocal visual-evoked potentials after optic neuritis. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2010;51(5):2770-7. PMID 20042660
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- Klistorner A, Fraser C, Garrick R, Graham S, Arvind H. Correlation between full-field and multifocal VEPs in optic neuritis. Doc Ophthalmol 2008;116(1):19-27. PMID 17680288
- 17
- Leocani L, Guerrieri S, Comi G. Visual evoked potentials as a biomarker in multiple sclerosis and associated optic neuritis. J Neuroophthalmol 2018;38(3):350-7. PMID 30106802
- 18
- Narayanan D, Cheng H, Tang RA, Frishman LJ. Multifocal visual evoked potentials and contrast sensitivity correlate with ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness in multiple sclerosis. Clin Neurophysiol 2019;130(1):180-8. PMID 30473445
- 19
- Prineas JW, Barnard RO, Kwon EE, Sharer LR, Cho ES. Multiple sclerosis: remyelination of nascent lesions. Ann Neurol 1993;33(2):137-51. PMID 8434875
- 20
- Sutter EE. The fast m-transform: a fast computation of cross-correlations with binary m-sequences. Soc Ind Appl Math 1991;20:686.
- 21
- Thompson AJ, Banwell BL, Barkhof F, et al. Diagnosis of multiple sclerosis: 2017 revisions of the McDonald criteria. Lancet Neurol 2018;17(2):162-73. PMID 29275977
- 22
- Trip SA, Schlottmann PG, Jones SJ, et al. Optic nerve atrophy and retinal nerve fibre layer thinning following optic neuritis: evidence that axonal loss is a substrate of MRI-detected atrophy. Neuroimage 2006;31:286-93. PMID 16446103
- 23
- You Y, Klistorner A, Thie J, Graham SL. Latency delay of visual evoked potential is a real measurement of demyelination in a rat model of optic neuritis. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2011;52:6911-8. PMID 21791585
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- References especially recommended by the author or editor for general reading.
Contributors
All contributors' financial relationships have been reviewed and mitigated to ensure that this and every other article is free from commercial bias.
Author
-
Randall J Brown MD MSc
Dr. Brown of Legacy Medical Group and Standford University School of Medicine has no relevant financial relationships to disclose.
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Editor
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Jonathan D Trobe MD
Dr. Trobe of the University of Michigan has no relevant financial relationships to disclose.
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