Prognostic value of the electroretinogram in severe recent ocular trauma.

Abstract

In patients suffering from severe recent ocular trauma it is important to know the extent of the retinal damage before assessing the possible recovery of visual function. Ophthal-moscopic examination of the fundus is often impossible because of opacities of the ocular media caused by the trauma. In such cases the electroretinogram (ERG) is of value in assessing the state of the retina, but very few electrophysiological investigations have so far been published on such cases. This is probably because there are various technical difficulties in recording the ERG in these patients. An attempt has been made in our laboratory to overcome these difficulties. The present paper analyses the ERGs recorded in 6I eyes in which severe and recent (less than 2 months) trauma had rendered the fundus invisible. In nineteen eyes the first record ofthe ERG was made during the first 5 days after the trauma, and in the rest between the sixth and the sixtieth day. This was because most of the patients had first been treated in other hospitals and later referred to our laboratory. These 6i eyes had sustained perforating wounds, intraocular foreign bodies, or severe contusions (Table); all foreign bodies were extracted during the first 20 days after the injury. Table Analysis of 6 I cases, 32 of which were followed long enough for the final visual acuity to be assessed