Recordings of visual evoked potentials after photostress in artificially increased intraocular pressure

1. The macular recovery after photostress has been investigated in 30 normal subjects under conditions of experimental ocular hypertension. In 18 subjects monocular visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were recorded after photostress in the left eye (control VEP) and then in the right eye, which was previously subjected to an intraocular pressure (IOP) increase. 2. In the control eyes, the VEP recorded 20 s after photostress presented an increase in latency and a decrease in amplitude. The functional recovery was complete after 80 s. In the eyes with induced ocular hypertension the parameters of VEP after photostress underwent larger changes than in the control eyes. 3. Our results indicate that the VEP recovery time after photostress depends both on retinal photopigment ability of resynthesis and on trophism of the macula papillo-macular bundle system. 4. This test could be useful in the clinical evaluation of the functional state of the papillo-macular bundle, in pathologies like glaucoma.