June 2013
Volume 54, Issue 15
Free
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   June 2013
Corneal nerve morphology: a non-invasive surrogate of nerve fibre damage and repair in chemotherapy-associated peripheral neuropathy
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Bernardo Sanchez Dalmau
    Institut Clinic d'Oftalmologia, Hospital Clinic.Seu Maternitat, Barcelona, Spain
    NeuroImmunology Group, IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain
  • Marisol Lopez Moreno
    Institut Clinic d'Oftalmologia, Hospital Clinic.Seu Maternitat, Barcelona, Spain
    NeuroImmunology Group, IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain
  • Ruben Torres
    Institut Clinic d'Oftalmologia, Hospital Clinic.Seu Maternitat, Barcelona, Spain
    NeuroImmunology Group, IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain
  • Santiago Ortiz-Perez
    Institut Clinic d'Oftalmologia, Hospital Clinic.Seu Maternitat, Barcelona, Spain
    NeuroImmunology Group, IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain
  • Dolores Vela
    Hematology Unit, Hospital General de Granollers, Granollers, Spain
  • Elena Fraga
    NeuroImmunology Group, IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain
  • Pablo Villoslada
    NeuroImmunology Group, IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships Bernardo Sanchez Dalmau, None; Marisol Lopez Moreno, None; Ruben Torres, None; Santiago Ortiz-Perez, None; Dolores Vela, None; Elena Fraga, None; Pablo Villoslada, Heidelberg Engineering (C), Novartis (F), Novartis (F), Roche (C), Bionure (I), Bionure (P)
  • Footnotes
    Support None
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science June 2013, Vol.54, 530. doi:
  • Views
  • Share
  • Tools
    • Alerts
      ×
      This feature is available to authenticated users only.
      Sign In or Create an Account ×
    • Get Citation

      Bernardo Sanchez Dalmau, Marisol Lopez Moreno, Ruben Torres, Santiago Ortiz-Perez, Dolores Vela, Elena Fraga, Pablo Villoslada, Visual Lab. Neuroimmunology Group. IDIBAPS; Corneal nerve morphology: a non-invasive surrogate of nerve fibre damage and repair in chemotherapy-associated peripheral neuropathy. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2013;54(15):530.

      Download citation file:


      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

      ×
  • Supplements
Abstract

Purpose: Chemotherapy-associated neuropathy is a cause of disability in patients with cancer, for diagnosis invasive techniques such as skin or sural nerve biopsy are used. Corneal confocal microscopy is a noninvasive technique that allows to assess “in-vivo” all structures of the cornea, including the corneal nerves. The purpose of the current study is to determine the ability of this technique to quantify the degeneration and regeneration of corneal nerves in patients with peripheral neuropathy secondary to chemotherapy.

Methods: Twelve patients with chemotherapy-associated neuropathy (study group) and 12 healthy volunteers were included. Laser in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) of the cornea was performed in one eye of each participant using the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph with the Rostock Cornea module. By a combination of clinical assessment and symptomatic neuropathy score an overall neuropathy score was obtained.

Results: Median age was 59 year in the study group and 57.2 years in the control group. The average time between evaluation and completion of chemotherapy was 11,8 month (2-38 months). The severity of the neuropathy was mild in one patient (8.3%), moderate in 8 (66.6%) and severe in 3 patients (25%).The IVCM revealed a reduction in nerve density and number of branching in 7 patients (58.3%) compared with 1 (8.3%) in the control group (p=0.0272). There was not a significant correlation between the sub-basal nerve findings and the severity of the neuropathy and with the time of chemotherapy ending.

Conclusions: Correlation between the chemotherapy-associated neuropathy and sub-basal nerve morphology has been found. Given that IVCM is a non invasive and painless technique which allows serial assessment of the sub-basal nerve morphology we suggest that IVCM may be an important tool to assess nerve degeneration and regeneration and therefore become a surrogate marker in the monitoring of chemotherapy associated neuropathy.

Keywords: 479 cornea: clinical science • 503 drug toxicity/drug effects • 624 oncology  
×
×

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

Sign in or purchase a subscription to access this content. ×

You must be signed into an individual account to use this feature.

×