Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2018 Apr 25;18(1):52.
doi: 10.1186/s12883-018-1051-2.

Case of convulsive seizure developing during electroretinographic recordings: a case report

Yuko Hayashi  1 , Gen Miura  2 , Akiyuki Uzawa  3 , Takayuki Baba  1 , Shuichi Yamamoto  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Case of convulsive seizure developing during electroretinographic recordings: a case report

Yuko Hayashi et al. BMC Neurol. .

Abstract

Background: To present our findings in a case of convulsive seizures and loss of consciousness that developed during recording electroretinograms (ERG).

Case presentation: A 34-year-old man had reduced vision in his left eye for about 15 years, and night blindness for about two years. His visual acuity was 20/15 in the right eye and 20/50 in the left eye. The fundus was normal but the sensitivity in the macular region of the left eye was decreased. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) showed partial loss of the interdigitation zone. Upon completion of the flicker ERG recording, a paralysis developed in both upper limbs, then convulsions of the lower limbs followed by a loss of consciousness. The convulsions disappeared after an intravenous injection of diazepam. After that incident, he reported that he had had previous conscious-loss seizures.

Conclusions: Photosensitive epileptic seizures can occur with the light stimuli used for conventional ERG recordings. We recommended that clinicians request information on any prior seizure episodes of the patients and their family members before ERG recordings.

Keywords: Electroretinogram (ERG); Epilepsy; Photosensitivity; Seizure.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Color fundus photographs and optical coherence tomographic (OCT) images. Fundus photographs do not show any obvious abnormal findings, and OCT shows partial loss of the interdigitation zone
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Retinal sensitivity measured by MP-3 microperimetry. Retinal sensitivity around fovea is decreased of both eyes
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Electroretinogram (ERG) waveforms. a Dark-adapted 0.01; b dark-adapted 3.0; c dark-adapted oscillatory potentials; d light-adapted 3.0 ERG; e light-adapted 30 Hz flicker; f long-duration flashes (on-off responses). The upper line shows the result of the right eye and the lower line shows the result of the left eye. The recording of the on-off response was interrupted when the patient developed tonic seizure
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Takada H, Aso K, Watanabe K, Okumura A, Negoro T, Ishikawa T. Epileptic seizures induced by animated cartoon, pocket monster. Epilepsia. 1999;40:997–1002. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1999.tb00809.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. McCulloch DL, Marmor MF, Brigell MG, Hamilton R, Holder GE, Tzekov R, et al. ISCEV standard for full-field clinical electroretinography (2015 update) Doc Ophthalmol. 2015;130:1–12. doi: 10.1007/s10633-014-9473-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Adrian ED, Matthews BHC. The Berger rhythm: potential changes from the occipital lobes in man. Brain. 1934;57:355–385. doi: 10.1093/brain/57.4.355. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Shiraishi H, Fujiwara T, Inoue Y, Yagi K. Photosensitivity in relation to epileptic syndromes: a survey from an epilepsy center in Japan. Epilepsia. 2001;42(Suppl 3):393–397. - PubMed
    1. Harding GFA, Jeavons PM. Photosensitivity epilepsy: clinics in development medicine. No.133. London: Mac Keith Press; 1994. pp. 28–29.

Publication types