The changes of multifocal electroretinography in the early stage of photodynamic therapy for choroidal neovascularization

To investigate short-term changes in the multifocal electroretinography (ERG) recordings after photodynamic therapy (PDT) for choroidal neovascularization (CNV), 16 patients (17 eyes) with classic CNV confirmed by fluorescein angiography (FA) and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA), including 11 cases (12 eyes) of exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD), two cases (two eyes) of pathological myopia and three cases (three eyes) of idiopathic causes, were treated using PDT with verteporfin. The multifocal ERGs of these patients were tested with VERIS Science^TM4.0 imaging system. The latencies and average response densities of all six ring retinal regions were measured and compared before PDT and 3 or 7 days after PDT. The latencies and amplitude densities of the N₁ and P₁ waves in all six rings remained unchanged at 3 or 7 days post-treatment (p>0.05). Therefore, there is no significant evidence to suggest an adverse effect from PDT for classic CNV on the outer retinal function in the early stage of treatment, with the aid of the multifocal ERG recordings.