Photopic ERGs in Patients with Optic Neuropathies: Comparison with Primate ERGs after Pharmacologic Blockade of Inner Retina

To determine whether anterior ischemic optic neuropathy and compressive optic neuropathy in humans alter the photopic flash ERG and to investigate the cellular origins of the waves that are affected by pharmacologic agents in primates. Photopic flash ERGs were recorded differentially, with DTL electrodes, between the two eyes of 22 patients with diagnosed optic neuropathy (n = 17, anterior ischemic optic neuropathy [AION]; n = 5, compressive optic neuropathy) and 25 age-matched control subjects and in 17 eyes of 13 monkeys (Macaca mulatta). The stimulus consisted of brief (