ELECTRORETINOGRAPHIC CHANGES IN UNDERNOURISHED CHILDREN 155 TABLE I ERG POTENTIALS IN UNDERNOURISHED CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY Electroretinogram

MALNUTRITION is still widely prevalent in children in many underdeveloped countries of the world, and a certain number show manifestations of vitamin A deficiency. Electroretinography in cases of vitamin A deficiency in children and adults has been extensively studied by Dhanda (1952-1956). As vitamin A deficiency occurs mainly in children with severe malnutrition, it was considered desirable to study the retinal electrical potential in severely undernourished children so as to assess whether the features reported earlier could be considered as specific of avitaminosis A or not. The apparatus and the method employed in the present study were the same as used by Karpe (1945), except that the amplifier used here had a sensitivity of one millivolt =1 cm., instead of one millivolt= 2 cm. In each case a minimum of ten stimuli were given and mean b-potentials were noted.