The Detection Of Misrouting In Albinism: Evaluation of Different VEP Procedures in a Heterogeneous Cohort.

PURPOSE: To investigate the optimal procedures for multichannel visually evoked potentials (VEPs) to detect misrouting in albinism subjects.

METHODS

Investigations were done in a phenotypically heterogeneous group of 180 albinism subjects and 187 controls with and without ocular pathology. We retrospectively compared standard flash VEP (fVEP), high-frequency fVEP with a handheld device (hh fVEP), pattern-onset VEP (poVEP), and short-onset acuity sweep VEP. The diagnostic power of these stimuli were estimated by calculating the area under the curve (AUC). Subjects were divided in three age groups (<3, 3-6 [toddler], and ≥6 years). Subjects ≥6 years of age were further divided in two visual acuity groups (≤0.3 logMAR and >0.3 logMAR).

RESULTS

The optimal stimulus was hh fVEP, standard fVEP, and poVEP 60' for subjects <3, 3-6, and ≥6 years of age, respectively. In subjects ≥6 years old with poor visual acuity, the area under the curve of fVEP was almost equal to that of poVEP 60'.

CONCLUSIONS

For the optimal detection of misrouting with multichannel VEP recordings, we recommend using a high-frequency hh fVEP in children <3 years of age, standard fVEP in toddlers, and poVEP 60' in subjects ≥6 years of age. fVEP can also be used in the oldest age group for subjects with visual acuity of >0.3 logMAR. Remarkably, some albinism subjects showed misrouting on full-field stimulation but normal routing of the central retina, suggesting that not the whole line of decussation is shifted temporally.