Electroretinogram changes in diabetic patients with and without Diabetic Macular Edema

•Diabetic macular edema(DME) is the most common cause of vision loss in patients with diabetic retinopathy and is increasing in prevelance globally.

•It has been reported that 20% and 14% of subjects with type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus develop diabetic macular edeme(DME) respectively.

•There is impaired function in the middle and inner layers of the retina in diabetic patients before start of vascular complications. Therefore, there is a need for an objective test for early detection and diagnosis of DR and DME

•Traditional flash ERG (FERG) devices and multifocal ERG (mfERG) devices are time consuming to use, also these devices require pupil dilatation , the use of invasive corneal electrodes and professional analysis

•Recently a portable full-field ERG recording device called the RETeval system was introduced, the advent of which has made it easier to make general judgments about retinal function which has the following advantages:

ü     It is a small , handled device

ü     Non invasive : uses special skin electrode to record the ERG patterns

ü     No need for dilatation of pupil

ü     Testing time for both eyes is <5mins

The DR risk  assessment protocol which is provided by the manufacturer was used. A 30-Hz flicker ERG, as set in the electrophysiological standard by the International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of  Vision (ISCEV) , will be used to observe the cone cell response.

The study presented herein compares the changes in the flicker electroretinography pattern between diabetic patients with and without diabetic macular edema.