Abstract
Purpose :
The purpose of this study was to determine the retinal sensitivity (RS) and retinal structure of patients with Multiple sclerosis (MS) and Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMO) who have no history of Optic Neuritis (ON) compared to that of healthy controls. The retinal structure was determined by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).
Methods :
Twelves eyes of 12 patients with MS (6 men, 6 women; mean age 45.6 ± 14.3 years), and fifteen eyes of 15 patients with NMOSD (2 men, 13 women; age 49.5 ± 10.4 years) who had no history of ON were studied. We determined the RS of the central 10° by macular integrity assessment (MAIA), a microperimetric method that measures the RS by direct stimulation of the retina with a scanning laser ophthalmoscope. The RS was determined for a 37-stimulus grid covering 10° of the central retina. We also determined the retinal structures by SD-OCT, and we quantified the mean thickness of the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL), ganglion cell complex (GCC), and outer nuclear layer (ONL) from the OCT images. Fifteen eyes of 15 age-matched volunteers without any other ocular disorders were included in the healthy control group (4 men, 11 women; age 45.2 ± 13.5 years).
Results :
The RS of the central 10° was significantly lower in the MS and the NMOSD groups than the control group (MS, 27.8 ±1.83 dB, P<0.01; NMOSD, 27.7 ± 1.70 dB, P<0.01; HC, 29.8 ± 0.82 dB, Mann-Whitney U-test). The pRNFL thickness (MS, 93.7 ± 16 μm, P<0.01, Mann-Whitney U-test), GCC thickness (MS, 85.2 ± 12.9 μm, P<0.01, Mann-Whitney U-test), and ONL thickness (NMOSD, 54.1 ± 4.95 μm, P<0.05, Mann-Whitney U-test) were significantly different than that of the control group (pRNFL thickness,105.9 ± 7.53 μm; GCC thickness, 98.6 ± 6.2 μm; ONL thickness, 59.2 ± 5.44 μm). On the other hand, the pRNFL thickness (NMOSD, 107.0 ± 13.0 μm, P>0.05), GCC thickness (NMOSD, 94.6 ± 9.15 μm), and ONL thickness (MS, 56.2 ± 5.50 μm, P>0.05) were not significantly different from that of the control group.
Conclusions :
These results indicate that the visual function is impaired even before the development of ON in patients with MS and NMOSD. We recommend that microperimetry and OCT be used in eyes with MS and NMOSD because subclinical ON may be present.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.