Reduced amplitude of oscillatory potentials in female carriers of X-linked recessive congenital stationary night blindness

We studied the electroretinograms of 12 female carriers in eight families with X-linked recessive congenital stationary night blindness. Forty-two normal eyes served as controls. The age and refractive error of the normal eyes were matched to those of the female carriers. We found the amplitude of the oscillatory potentials (01 + 02 + 03 + 04) in carriers was statistically smaller than in normal eyes. Seventeen of 22 eyes of carriers were more than +/- 2 S.D. away from normal, and the mean value was statistically lower than normal (P less than .001). The peak time of oscillatory potentials, and the amplitude of the a-, b-, scotopic b-, and photopic b-waves were all within the normal range. The selective abnormality of the amplitude of the oscillatory potentials is a new finding in female carriers in X-linked recessive congenital stationary night blindness.