Early receptor potential recordings for clinical routine.

An apparatus and an electrode for early receptor potential recordings in clinical routine are introduced. One-hundred and eighty normal eyes were compared with cases of diffuse and localized retinal diseases. In retinitis pigmentosa patients a decrease in R1 and R2 amplitudes and in some cases a much faster time course was found. Eyes with circumscribed retinal affectations produced a wide variety of amplitudes, overlapping with the range of normals. In cases of monochromatism, the ERP recording established the diagnosis because of an absent R1 wave.