Measurement of retinal function with flash-electroretinography in Chinese patients with hyperlipidemia.

BACKGROUND: We used flash electroretinography (F-ERG) to determine if retinal function was impaired in patients with hyperlipidemia, including visual acuity and fundus morphological changes, and to identify predictors of impaired retinal function in hyperlipidemia patients.
METHODS: This was a prospective case-control study (Shanghai, China; February 2011 to January 2012) in 696 hyperlipidemia patients and 136 healthy controls. Exclusion criteria included best-corrected visual acuity <0.6, previous intraocular surgery, and chronic comorbidities. Each participant underwent a comprehensive series of ophthalmologic examinations, and standard F-ERG examination. Data were analyzed using t-tests and multivariate analysis.
RESULTS: Six hundred and twenty-six hyperlipidemia patients (57.69 ± 14.01 years; 59.58% female) and 120 healthy controls (55.13 ± 14.03 years; 60% female) were included in the final analysis. After adjustment for age and gender using multivariate covariance analysis, F-ERG result revealed significantly lower response amplitudes in the hyperlipidemia group (P < 0.05), and longer implicit times (P < 0.05) than the control group. F-ERG parameters were significantly different between the two groups. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis showed that serum LDL levels (P < 0.001), BMI (P < 0.001), duration of hyperlipidemia (P < 0.001), and serum HDL levels (P = 0.03) were negatively correlated with ΣOps.
CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that the retinal function of hyperlipidemia patients was significantly lower than in healthy controls, even before the occurrence of pathological changes in the fundus.