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Large drusen not necessarily matched with retinal dysfunction

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The visible presence of drusen in an area of the retina does not always match up with a loss of function in that area as measured by multifocal ERG, a study found. Patients with large drusen exhibited functional changes in the cone-driven pathways evaluated, but these visible changes did not predict retinal function, according to the study. Large drusen were associated with more general retinal dysfunction.

Christina Gerth, MD, and colleagues with the University of California, Davis, studied 31 eyes from 20 patients between the ages of 58 and 84 who had large drusen. For the purposes of this study, large drusen were defined as at least 5 drusen at least 63 µm in diameter. Each of the 103 single first-order kernel multifocal ERG (mfERG) responses was analyzed and compared with healthy age-matched control subjects.

Significant morphologic-functional relations were detected in only a few patients. Abnormal mfERG variables were present in areas without morphologic changes.

The study is published in the October issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.