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The Interest of Electroretinography in Parkinsonism

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Part of the book series: Documenta Ophthalmologica Proceeding Series ((DOPS,volume 23))

Abstract

The authors have studied the behaviour of the ERG b-wave in humans affected by Parkinsonism during treatment with L-Dopa (Sinemet).

The results obtained lead to the conclusion that a significant decrease of the b-wave amplitude coincides an overdosage on the same line with the comparison of neuropsychiatric side-effects. The authors believe that a routine ERG control in patients affected by parkinsonism during the medical treatment is very useful in order to prevent side-effects from overdosage.

Four dopaminergic loops are known at present: nigro-striatal, hypothalamus-infundibular, meso-limbic, meso-cortical.

Recently other dopaminergic acting neurons have been found in the frontal cortex and in the retina (Costa and Gessa, 1977); in the latter, animal experiments have demonstrated the existence of several neurotransmitters, predominantly dopamine (Starr, 1975). The aim of our work has been to show whether in parkinsonian patients there are, as in the cortex, conductivity changes of the retina nervous structures to be compared with dopamine contents. The ERG seemed to be a useful tool for that purpose.

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E. Schmöger J. H. Kelsey

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© 1980 Dr W. Junk by Publishers

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Cavallacci, G., Perossini, M., Wirth, A. (1980). The Interest of Electroretinography in Parkinsonism. In: Schmöger, E., Kelsey, J.H. (eds) Visual Electrodiagnosis in Systemic Diseases. Documenta Ophthalmologica Proceeding Series, vol 23. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-9180-4_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-9180-4_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-009-9182-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-9180-4

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