Purpose: To determine whether the RETeval electroretinography (ERG) system can be used to evaluate eyes with dense vitreous hemorrhage (VH).
Methods: This retrospective case series study included 69 eyes of 69 patients with acute dense VH. Flicker ERGs were recorded by the RETeval system, an ERG device with adhesive skin electrodes. We evaluated the flicker ERG amplitudes in eyes with VH and the ratio of the VH eye amplitudes compared with the fellow eye amplitudes for each VH cause.
Results: In patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, the amplitude ratios were extremely low (0.08 ± 0.03). To detect rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.977 (95% confidence interval, 0.943-1.000) (best rhegmatogenous retinal detachment cutoff value, 0.14; sensitivity, 100.0%; and specificity, 95.4%). The flicker ERG amplitude was not significantly correlated with the initial visual acuity (ρ = -0.189, P = 0.120) but was positively correlated with the postoperative visual acuity in eyes with VH (ρ = -0.328, P = 0.006).
Conclusion: The RETeval ERG system was found to be a useful diagnostic option in situations where dense VH precluded fundus examination or posterior vitreous detachment was indistinguishable from rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.