Clinical evaluation of VEPs to interleaved checkerboard reversal stimulation of central, hemi- and peripheral fields

Long-term remyelination after optic neuritis: A 2-year visual evoked potential and psychophysical serial study

Thirty-one patients were followed-up, at 3-month intervals for the first year and at 6-month intervals for the second year, after an episode of optic neuritis. The object was to confirm previous evidence for a progressive shortening of visual evoked potential (VEP) latencies and to determine whether this is associated with any change in the clinical ocular examination, visual fields or contrast sensitivity. VEP latencies were found to decrease significantly during both the first and (less strikingly) the second year, the most marked changes occurring between 3 and 6 months. Contrast sensitivity improved during the first 9 months, but subsequently tended (non-significantly) to deteriorate. A similarly transient improvement in central visual field sensitivity was seen in a subgroup of patients with clinically overt multiple sclerosis. In the data from the acutely unaffected fellow eyes, no significant changes in VEP parameters or functional indices were observed. The findings extend those of a previous study which showed significant shortening of VEP latencies between 6 months and 3 years without significant functional improvement. Over this period, a significant prolongation of VEP latencies occurred in the asymptomatic fellow eye, accompanied by contrast sensitivity deterioration. Taken in conjunction, the two studies suggest that recovery processes involving remyelination or, possibly, ion channel reorganization proceed for at least 2 years. The concurrent effects of insidious demyelination and/or axonal degeneration (also occurring in the fellow optic nerve) are initially masked by the recovery process, but gradually become more evident. The functional benefits of the long-term recovery process are relatively minor and are usually reversed within a few years. Nevertheless, it is suggested that long-term remyelination may perform an important role in protecting demyelinated axons from degeneration. Understanding the factors which promote long-term remyelination may have significant implications for therapy in multiple sclerosis.

Variation of visual evoked potential delay to stimulation of central, nasal, and temporal regions of the macula in optic neuritis

OBJECTIVES

To compare the degree of visual evoked potential (VEP) delay to stimulation of central, nasal, and temporal regions of the macula in optic neuritis, to determine whether the differential involvement of parvocellular and magnocellular fibre types suggested by other studies is governed by retinotopic factors.

METHODS

VEPs were recorded to reversal of 40' checks in the central (4 degrees radius) and the left and right surrounding regions of the visual field (as far as 10 degrees vertical and 14 degrees horizontal) in 30 patients recently recovered from the acute stage of optic neuritis, and in 17 age matched controls.

RESULTS

In the control group, VEP latencies were similar to stimulation of the central and temporal regions of the macula, marginally shorter from the nasal region. In the patients with optic neuritis, VEPs were significantly more delayed from the central region, on average by about twice as much as from the nasal and temporal regions. Delays seen in some of the VEPs from the patients' fellow eyes tended to be more uniformly distributed.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the central region of the macula is where the density of parvocellular innervation is greatest, there is no reason to suppose that the VEPs to stimulation of the nasal and temporal regions (almost all P100 activity arising from within the central 10 degrees ) are mediated by fibres of another type. Consequently it is suggested that the central fibres were most affected by demyelination, not on account of their belonging to the parvocellular type but because of their particular situation in the optic nerve. Centrally located fibres may experience greater exposure to factors causing demyelination, or fibres located closer to the edge of the plaque may undergo more effective remyelination in the first few weeks after the acute episode.

Multifocal pattern VEP perimetry: analysis of sectoral waveforms

PURPOSE

The objective detection of local visual field defects using multi-focal pattern visual evoked potentials (VEP) has recently been described. The individual waveforms show variable polarity in different parts of the visual field due to underlying cortical convolutions. Normal trace arrays were examined to determine if certain areas of similar waveform could be grouped for analysis, while minimising cancellation of data.

METHOD

The VEP was assessed using multi-focal pseudo-randomly alternated pattern stimuli which were cortically scaled in size. Bipolar occipital electrodes were used for recording. Waveforms were compared for different locations within the field up to 25 degrees of eccentricity. Analysis of sectors showing similarly shaped waveforms was performed. Twelve normal subjects were studied.

RESULT

Grouping waveforms by sectors of similar waveform increased the total calculated upper hemifield amplitude by 60%, compared with simple summations of responses for the whole hemifield. The inferior hemifield showed more consistent waveforms throughout, with the amplitude only increasing by 11% with sectoral summation. Intra-subject variability (10.6%) is less for sectors than for individual points (17.3%). Inter-subject amplitude differences are high, calculated at 56% for individual points and 45% for sectors.

CONCLUSIONS

Due to differences in waveform as a result of underlying cortical anatomy, individual VEP responses from multifocal recordings should be grouped as sectors along the vertical meridian and above and below the horizontal, rather than by hemifields or quadrants. This finding is significant if one is considering within-field grouping strategies similar to the glaucoma hemifield test used in conventional perimetry, or reporting derived overall VEP amplitudes and latencies from a multifocal recording. Large amplitude variations between individuals and small signals from horizontal and upper field seen in single channel recording, still limit the application of this technique as a form of objective perimetry.

Recovery from optic neuritis is associated with a change in the distribution of cerebral response to visual stimulation: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study

OBJECTIVES

Recovery to normal or near normal visual acuity is usual after acute demyelinating optic neuritis, despite the frequent persistence of conduction abnormalities as evidenced by the visual evoked potential (VEP). This raises the possibility that cortical adaptation to a persistently abnormal input contributes to the recovery process. The objective of this study was to investigate the pattern of cerebral response to a simple visual stimulus in recovered patients in comparison to normal subjects.

METHODS

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to study the brain activation pattern induced by a periodic monocular 8Hz photic stimulus in seven patients who had recovered from a single episode of acute unilateral optic neuritis, and in seven normal controls. VEPs and structural optic nerve MRI were performed on patients.

RESULTS

Stimulation of either eye in controls activated only the occipital visual cortex. However, in patients, stimulation of the recovered eye also induced extensive activation in other areas including the insula-claustrum, lateral temporal and posterior parietal cortices, and thalamus; stimulation of the clinically unaffected eye activated visual cortex and right insula-claustrum only. The volume of extraoccipital activation in patients was strongly correlated with VEP latency (r = 0.71, p = 0.005).

CONCLUSIONS

The extraoccipital areas that were activated in patients all have extensive visual connections, and some have been proposed as sites of multimodal sensory integration. The results indicate a functional reorganisation of the cerebral response to simple visual stimuli after optic neuritis that may represent an adaptive response to a persistently abnormal input. Whether this is a necessary part of the recovery process remains to be determined.

Objective perimetry in glaucoma: recent advances with multifocal stimuli

The introduction of multifocal stimulus recording has enhanced our ability to examine the human visual field with electrophysiologic techniques. We have adapted the multifocal pattern visual evoked potential (PVEP) to detect visual field loss. In glaucoma patients we sought to determine the extent to which the PVEP amplitudes correlate with perimetric thresholds. Multifocal pseudorandomly alternated pattern stimuli, which were cortically scaled in size, were presented with use of the VERIS-Scientific system. Bipolar occipital straddle electrode positions were used. The visual field up to 25 degrees of eccentricity was investigated. Forty-three glaucoma patients with reproducible visual field defects were tested. The bipolar PVEP corresponded well with Humphrey visual field defects, showing loss of signal in the scotoma area. For Humphrey quadrant threshold totals and PVEP quadrant amplitudes, the correlation coefficient was strong (r = 0.49, P < 0.0001). The multifocal PVEP demonstrates good correspondence with the topography of the visual field. This technique represents the first practical application of the multifocal PVEP to objective detection of visual field defects in glaucoma.

The diagnostic significance of the multifocal pattern visual evoked potential in glaucoma

The concept of objective perimetry is an exciting one because it strives to assess glaucoma damage without relying on psychophysical testing. The recent introduction of multifocal stimulus recording has enhanced our ability to examine the human visual field using electrophysiology. A multifocal pattern visual evoked potential can now be recorded, testing up to 60 sites within the central 25 degrees. The test requires only that the subject fixate on a target, while a cortically scaled dartboard pattern stimulus undergoes pseudorandom alternation within each of the test segments. In its present configuration the test requires at least 8 minutes recording time per eye. Modified bipolar electrode positions are required to ensure that adequate signals are detected from all parts of the visual field. In glaucoma patients, pattern visual evoked potential amplitudes have been shown to reflect visual field loss with reduction of signal amplitude in the affected areas. This technique represents the first major step toward objective detection of visual field defects in glaucoma.