Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Evaluation in Demyelinating Diseases with Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography and Scanning Laser Polarimetry

Abstract

 

Purpose:

 

To demonstrate whether retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thicknessmeasured by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT)and scanning laser polarimetry (SLP) is a potential biomarkerfor demyelinating diseases (multiple sclerosis [MS] and neuromyelitisoptica [NMO]).

 

Methods:

 

In this cross-sectional study, patients with MS and NMO diagnosedaccording to clinical and neuroimaging criteria as well as healthyindividuals were recruited. Eyes with a recent clinical diagnosisof optic neuritis (less than six months), glaucoma, optic neuropathy(other than MS and NMO-related optic neuritis), or other relevantretinal and/or optic nerve disease were excluded. The eyes hadthe parapapillary RNFL thickness measured by SD-OCT, using theSpectralis (software version 4.0, Heidelberg Engineering, Dossenheim,Germany), and by SLP, using the GDxVCC (software version 5.3.3,Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc., Dublin, CA).

 

Results:

 

Fifty-four eyes of 27 patients with MS, 9 eyes of 5 patientswith NMO, and 45 eyes of 23 healthy individuals were included.RNFL measurements were compared between groups in Table 1. Thepercentage of abnormal results is shown in Table 2.

 

Conclusions:

 

The RNFL is affected in MS and NMO. SD-OCT retinal imaging mayrepresent a high-resolution, objective, noninvasive, and easilyquantifiable in vivo biomarker of MS and NMO.  

 

 

Keywords: nerve fiber layer • imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound) • neuro-ophthalmology: diagnosis