Multiple sclerosis associates reduced retinal fractal dimension

Abstract

Purpose : To evaluate the association between multiple sclerosis (MS) and retinal fractal dimension (FD), a retinal vascular geometric index of complexity.

Methods : A retrospective cohort study with data from 96,992 patients, of which 250 had multiple sclerosis seen at a tertiary ophthalmic institution in London, United Kingdom. Retinal fractal dimension was extracted from macular-centered colour fundus photographs using the Vascular Assessment and Measurement Platform for Images of the Retina. Multivariable linear regression evaluated the association between retinal FD and multiple sclerosis adjusting for age, sex, hypertension and diabetes mellitus.

Results : Patients with multiple sclerosis were younger (61.6 +/- 12.8 years of age versus 68.2 +/-12.5, p<0.001) and more likely to be female (72.4% versus 50.9%, p<0.001) but less likely to be diabetic (32.4% versus 47.5%, p<0.001) or hypertensive (73.6% versus 80.1%, p<0.001). Retinal FD was similar regardless of MS status (non-MS: 1.511+/- 0.032 versus MS: 1.514 +/- 0.032, p=0.23). After adjustment for age, sex, hypertension and diabetes mellitus, retinal fractal dimension was reduced in patients with MS (b -0.0043, 95% confidence interval: -0.008, -0.0006, p=0.024).

Conclusions : Retinal FD is reduced in people with MS. It remains unclear whether FD may be related to disease severity and therapeutics and further work should characterize its role in dynamic disease modelling.

This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.