Tambien lo podrías hacer así:
Cita: Dim oConn As New SqlConnection(ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings("C onnectionString"))
Dim cmd As New SqlCommand("Select count (*) FROM Tabla", oConn)
Dim iTotal As Integer
oConn.Open()
iTotal = cmd.ExecuteScalar
oConn.Close()
If iTotal < 0 Then
'hago algo
Else
'No lo hago
End If
Saludos