Preoperative Electrophysiological Characterization of Patients with Primary Macula‑involving Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment

Purpose: To determine 1) which components of retinal function are impaired after rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, 2) which outer retinal pathways (rod‑ or cone‑driven) are more severely affected, and 3) whether there is concomitant inner retinal dysfunction. Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study in a large academic institution. We performed preoperative electroretinography on eight patients to assess outer and inner retinal function. In all cases, a comparison between the eye with the detached retina and the control fellow eye was made. Results: Eyes with a detached retina had significantly lower a‑wave and b‑wave amplitudes with respect to both rod‑ and cone‑dominated testing parameters (P < 0.05) and reduced 30 Hz flicker responses compared to fellow eyes (P < 0.05); the effect size was similar for all significantly reduced parameters (r~0.6). There were no significant differences between eyes with detached retinas and control fellow eyes with respect to b/a‑wave ratios, a‑wave latencies, or b‑wave latencies. Conclusion: Patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment have preoperative outer retinal dysfunction equally affecting both rod‑ and cone‑driven pathways, and they have minimal inner retinal dysfunction.