ObjectiveTo evaluate the differences of visual evoked potentials (amplitudes and latency) between cerebral palsy (CP) children and normal children. MethodsThis study involved fourteen children aged from 4 to 7 years with CP (monoplegia) between 2009 and 2013. Another 14 normal children aged from 5 to 9 years treated in the Department of Ophthalmology in West China Hospital during the same period were regarded as the control group. Both eyes of all the participants were examined by multifocal visual evoked potential (mfVEP). The mfVEP examination results were recorded, and amplitude and latency were analyzed. First, we analyzed the differences of amplitudes and latency time between monoplegia children and children in the control group. Second, gross motor function classification system (GMFCS) was used to classify the fourteen monoplegia children among whom there were five GMFCS Ⅰ patients and nine GMFCS Ⅱ patients. The differences of mfVEP were analyzed between the two GMFCS groups. ResultsThe amplitude and latency of mfVEP in children with CP showed gradual changes similar to those in the normal children. The amplitudes were decreasing and the latencies were delaying from the first eccentricity to the sixth eccentricity. The amplitudes in children with CP were lower than those in the control group in the first to the third eccentricities for both eyes (P＜0.05), and latency of left eye was delayed in the first eccentricity in children with CP (P=0.045). No difference was found between the two GMFCS groups (P>0.05) except the amplitude of the first eccentricity (P=0.043). ConclusionsThe results of mfVEP show significant differences of amplitude and latency between CP and normal children, suggesting the existence of visual pathway impairments in cerebral palsy children. The results of mfVEP can provide an objective basis of visual impairments for cerebral palsy children.
The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of anterior segment optical coherence tomography to assess the anterior segment morphology of hyperopia in school-aged children. 320 eyes of 160 school-aged children, 6-12 years of age, were examined with anterior segment optical coherence tomography and were divided into four groups according to the cycloplegic spherical equivalence of refractive error. The mentioned four groups were: emmetropia group, low hyperopia group, moderate hyperopia group and high hyperopia group. The measurements of central corneal thickness, anterior chamber depth, angle opening distance, trabecular iris space area and scleral angle were compared in pairs among objects in the four groups. The results showed that high hyperopia and moderate hyperopia had shallower anterior chamber depth and narrower anterior chamber angle compared to those in emmetropia group. The study also showed that anterior segment optical coherence tomography as a non-contact technology could become a new technology for accessing the anterior segment morphology of hyperopia in school-aged children.
ObjectiveTo use flash electroretinogram (F-ERG) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) to examine patients with primary retinitis pigmentosa (RP), and analyze the specificity of the disease on F-ERG and OCT. MethodsThirty-seven patients (74 eyes) diagnosed with primary retinitis pigmentosa in the Department of Ophthalmology, West China Hospital between September 2013 to October 2014 and 38 normal volunteers (76 eyes) were included in this study. F-ERG and OCT examinations were performed on all the patients. Then, we analyzed the differences between the two groups of subjects. ResultsFor RP patients undergoing P-ERG examination with the dark adaptation of 0.01 ERG, the latency of b wave was (73.24±6.42) ms and the amplitude of b wave was (22.87±22.48) μV; when dark adaptation of 3.0 ERG was adopted, the latency of a wave was (24.57±6.30) ms, the amplitude of a wave was (35.45±25.54) μV, the latency of b wave was (48.19±8.18) ms, and the amplitude of b wave was (119.47±50.89) μV; with the light adaptation of 3.0 ERG, the latency of a wave was (21.01±4.86) ms, the amplitude of a wave was (12.59±13.43) μV, the latency of b wave was (38.43±5.00) ms, and the amplitude of b wave was (27.19±38.12) μV. For normal volunteers undergoing F-ERG examination with the dark adaptation of 0.01 ERG, the latency of b wave was (72.63±3.49) ms and the amplitude of b wave was (86.36±21.57) μV; when the dark adaptation was 3.0 ERG, the latency of a wave was (22.88±1.62) ms, the amplitude of a wave was (210.74±43.57) μV, the latency of b wave was (42.59±2.60) ms, and the amplitude of b wave was (398.29±62.42) μV; when the light adaptation of 3.0 ERG was adopted, the latency of a wave was (16.61±0.87) ms, the amplitude of a wave was (54.26±19.64) μV, the latency of b wave was (33.29±1.11) ms, and the amplitude of b wave was (176.98±63.44) μV. There were no significant differences between the two groups when dark adaptation ERG was 0.01 (P=0.48), but for other adaptations, there were significant differences in the latency and amplitude of a and b wave between the two groups (P<0.05). The results of OCT showed that the retinal thickness of the RP patients with a range of 1 mm diameter centered on macular center concave was (218.66±74.14) mm, 3 mm diameter was (275.03±47.85) mm, and 6 mm diameter was (247.37±46.44) mm. For normal volunteers, OCT showed that the retinal thickness with a 1 mm range centered on macular center concave was (250.38±15.79) mm, 3 mm was (323.64±17.26) mm, and 6 mm was (283.44±12.50) mm. The differences between the two groups were statistically significant for each range (P<0.01). ConclusionFor patients with RP, F-ERG shows latency delay and amplitude decrease for each response, while OCT displays a thinning thickness of macular fovea. Therefore, F-ERG and OCT can not only effectively evaluate the functions of macular and the surrounding retina, but can also be used as an effective method for the diagnosis of RP.