ELECTRORETINOGRAPHIC FINDINGS IN INFANTS WITH THE SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME

Purpose: To determine if electroretinography is helpful in the work-up of children with the shaken baby syndrome, Methods: Six children with retinal hemorrhages and the shaken baby syndrome underwent electroret inography (ERG). The ERGs of these six children were compared with six age-matched controls using the sign-rank test. Results: Neither the i mplicit time nor the amplitude of the white scotopic ERG response was significantly different between these patients and age-matched control s, Although the amplitude of the blue scotopic and 30 Hz flicker respo nses were attenuated (p<0.05), the implicit times were not significant ly different from controls. Three of the patients had serial ERGs reco rded. The b-wave implicit time and amplitude improved in two of these patients. The ERG was helpful in distinguishing between a CNS and a re tinal cause of visual loss in one child, Conclusions: The ERG can be h elpful in assessing retinal function in children with the shaken baby syndrome who have persistent visual impairment. In most cases, the ERG is not helpful in the initial assessment of children with the shaken baby syndrome.