Relation between visual acuity, macular retinal thickness, visual field and multifocal electroretinography in patients with retinitis pigmentosa

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the correlation between corrected visual acuity (CVA), macular retinal thickness, visual fi eld and multifocal electroretinography (mfERG) responses in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Materials and Methods: The study included RP patients who were admitted to our clinic between January 2014 and December 2018 and had CVA at least ≥0.05. All patients underwent thorough ophthalmologic examination. Spectral domain (SD) optical coherence tomography (OCT) was performed to assess macular retinal thickness and standard central 30-2 threshold test was used as visual fi eld test. The visual fi eld responses, matching to mfERG, were estimated by calculating average value for 5 concentric rings. Correlation analysis was performed among CVA, macular retinal thickness, visual fi eld and mfERG responses. Results: Forty-four eyes of 22 patients were included in the study. The mean age was 30.6±13.0 (range 17 to 52) years in the study population. The CVA ranged from 0.05 to 1. In our study, there was a positive correlation between CVA, macular retinal thickness (r=0.668, p<0.01), visual fi eld (r=0.578, p<0.01) and mfERG responses for ring 1 (r=0.511, p<0.01). Conclusion: In addition to ophthalmologic examination, visual fi eld, SD-OCT and mfERG are important tests in the follow-up of patients with RP. We think that ophthalmologic examination together with anatomical and functional tests will be useful in the clinical follow-up of these patients.