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Document ID (ISN)103865
CIS number 05-66
ISSN - Serial title 0340-0131 - International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
Year 2004
Convention or series no.
Author(s) Verberk M.M., Brons J.T., Sallé H.J.A.
Title Visual evoked potentials in workers with chronic solvent encephalopathy
Bibliographic information June 2004, Vol.77, No.5, p.328-334. Illus. 26 ref.
Abstract The effectiveness of contrast stimulus to reveal damage to specific visual cortical areas was studied among solvent-exposed workers. 30 male patients aged 48±9 years with solvent-induced chronic encephalopathy participated in the study, together with 41 controls aged 46±8 years without solvent exposure. Pattern-reversal checkerboards with low and high contrast were used. At low contrast, the peak-to-peak amplitude in the controls was 57% of the amplitude at high contrast, while among patients, the response at low contrast was only 48% of that at high contrast. Results confirm earlier findings of a physiological basis for the solvent-induced decrease of visual contrast sensitivity. The results also suggest that the neurophysiological examination of the visual system in persons who have undergone exposure to toxic substances might be benefited by the addition of low-contrast stimuli.
Descriptors (primary) visual function disorders; solvents; encephalopathy
Descriptors (secondary) neurotoxic effects; vision tests; case-control study; male workers
Document type D - Periodical articles
Country / State or ProvinceNetherlands
Subject(s) Occupational pathology
Toxic and dangerous substances
Broad subject area(s) Chemical safety
Occupational medicine, epidemiology
Browse category(ies) Diseases of the eye and vision damage
Diseases of the nervous system