Electroretinographic recordings with skin electrodes to assess effects of vitrectomy with gas tamponade on eyes with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the retinal function by electroretinograms (ERGs) recorded with the RETeval system using skin electrodes after pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) with gas tamponade in eyes with a rhegmatogeneous retinal detachment (RRD). Flicker ERGs were recorded from 17 eyes with an RRD before (baseline), within 2 weeks after the PPV when the size of the tamponade gas was approximately one-half of the vitreous cavity (P1), and when the gas had been completely absorbed (P2). The amplitudes of the flicker ERGs at each phase were compared to that at the baseline. The median (25th, 75th percentile) of the amplitude was 10.0 µV (5.5, 13.0 µV) at the baseline, 11.7 µV at P1 (7.8, 14.8 µV; P = 0.003), and 17.1 µV at P2 (11.7 23.3 μV; P < 0.001). The ratio of the amplitudes in the affected eye to that in the fellow eye at the baseline and at each phase was calculated, and the ratio of the amplitudes at P1 and P2 were significantly and positively correlated (P = 0.723, P = 0.001; Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient). We conclude that recordings the flicker ERGs with skin electrodes can be used to assess the physiology of eyes even with the vitreous cavity half-filled with the gas used to tamponade the retina.