PATTERN ELECTRORETINOGRAM AND AUTOMATED PERIMETRY IN PATIENTS WITH GLAUCOMA AND OCULAR HYPERTENSION

To determine whether the pattern electroretinogram can improve the obj ectivity of visual field assessment, 39 patients with glaucoma and ocu lar hypertension were studied. This was to establish whether there is a correlation between the pattern electroretinogram and the global ind ices (mean deviation and corrected pattern standard deviation) provide d by automated perimetry using the Humphrey visual field analyser. A s ignificant correlation was found between the amplitude of the P50+N95 wave of the pattern electroretinogram and the mean deviation and corre cted pattern standard deviation components of the visual field. The la rger the deviation from normal of these indices, particularly the corr ected pattern standard deviation, the smaller the amplitude of the pat tern electroretinogram. This correlation between the pattern electrore tinogram and visual field indices provides an additional measure of co nfidence when interpreting equivocal results of automated perimetry.