Pattern electroretinogram: effects of reference electrode position.

The pattern electroretinogram has assumed greater clinical and experimental significance because of its inner retinal origins. However, clinical tests may be confounded by an artifact. We tested subjects varying reference electrode position and eye stimulated while employing the Dawson-Trick-Litzkow (DTL) fiber electrode as the active electrode. The presence of a statistically significant artifactual response could not be confirmed. However, the variability of responses elicited with the outer canthus was less and the signal-to-noise ratio greater than with other reference positions.