An electrophysiological follow-up study on acquired unilateral nyctalopia.

PURPOSE: To describe the clinical picture and electrophysiological findings in acquired unilateral nyctalopia.

METHODS

A patient who had acquired unilateral visual loss with normal fundus was followed for a period of 2.5 years with basic ophthalmological examinations including standard electroretinogram and photopic on and off responses.

RESULTS

A 46-year-old woman suffered from acquired unilateral nyctalopia. She complained of photopsia and blurred vision in her left eye. The initial examination of the left eye showed 1+ cells in the anterior chamber and a granular appearance in the fovea. After 1 month of treatment she still complained of photopsia in her left eye. Ophthalmoscopy and fluorescein angiography revealed no abnormality in either eye. A bright flash electroretinogram (ERG) in the left eye was a negative shape. Photopic ERG elicited by a 150 ms stimulus showed a depressed b-wave and enhanced a- and d-waves in the left eye.

CONCLUSIONS

This ERG waveform suggested that the transmission between photoreceptor and on-bipolar cell might be affected by idiopathic retinal disease.