June 2022
Volume 63, Issue 7
Open Access
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   June 2022
Altered retinal oxygen metabolism in patients with multiple sclerosis
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Gerhard Garhofer
    Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medizinische Universitat Wien, Wien, Wien, Austria
  • Martin Kallab
    Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medizinische Universitat Wien, Wien, Wien, Austria
  • Nikolaus Hommer
    Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medizinische Universitat Wien, Wien, Wien, Austria
  • Andreas Schlatter
    Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medizinische Universitat Wien, Wien, Wien, Austria
  • Gabriel Bsteh
    Department of Neurology, Medizinische Universitat Wien, Wien, Wien, Austria
  • Patrick Altmann
    Department of Neurology, Medizinische Universitat Wien, Wien, Wien, Austria
  • Martin Pfister
    Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medizinische Universitat Wien, Wien, Wien, Austria
  • René Marcel Werkmeister
    Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medizinische Universitat Wien, Wien, Wien, Austria
  • Doreen Schmidl
    Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medizinische Universitat Wien, Wien, Wien, Austria
  • Leopold Schmetterer
    Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medizinische Universitat Wien, Wien, Wien, Austria
    Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore, Singapore
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships   Gerhard Garhofer None; Martin Kallab None; Nikolaus Hommer None; Andreas Schlatter None; Gabriel Bsteh None; Patrick Altmann None; Martin Pfister None; René Werkmeister None; Doreen Schmidl None; Leopold Schmetterer None
  • Footnotes
    Support  Austrian Science Fund (FWF) project No. KLI 529
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science June 2022, Vol.63, 2476 – F0183. doi:
  • Views
  • Share
  • Tools
    • Alerts
      ×
      This feature is available to authenticated users only.
      Sign In or Create an Account ×
    • Get Citation

      Gerhard Garhofer, Martin Kallab, Nikolaus Hommer, Andreas Schlatter, Gabriel Bsteh, Patrick Altmann, Martin Pfister, René Marcel Werkmeister, Doreen Schmidl, Leopold Schmetterer; Altered retinal oxygen metabolism in patients with multiple sclerosis. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2022;63(7):2476 – F0183.

      Download citation file:


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

      ×
  • Supplements
Abstract

Purpose : Functional changes in the neural retina have been proposed to be associated with multiple sclerosis pathogenesis and progression. The aim of the present study was to assess retinal oxygen extraction and total retinal blood flow in patients with diagnosed relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) and history of unilateral optic neuritis (ON).

Methods : A total of 16 RMS patients and 18 healthy control subjects participated in this cross-sectional study. Retinal oxygen extraction was calculated using retinal oxygen saturation values obtained from the oxygen module of the retinal vessel analyzer (RVA, Imedos, Germany) and total retinal blood flow data measured with a custom-built Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT) system. Measurements were performed in both eyes of RMS patients (MS+ON eye referring to the eye with history of optic neuritis and MS-ON eye referring to the eye with no history of optic neuritis). One eye from each healthy subject was used as control.

Results : Retinal oxygen extraction was lowest in MS+ON eyes (1.8 ± 0.2 µl O2/min), higher in MS-ON eyes (2.1 ± 0.5 µl O2/min) and highest in healthy eyes (2.3 ± 0.6 µl O2/min; p = 0.031 between groups). Total retinal blood flow was lower in MS+ON eyes (33.2 ± 6.0 µl/min) as compared to MS-ON eyes (38.3 ± 4.6 µl/min) and healthy eyes (37.2 ± 4.7 µl/min; p = 0.010 between groups).

Conclusions : The present study found retinal oxygen extraction to be reduced in eyes of patients with RMS. This reduction seems to be more pronounced in eyes with history of optic neuritis. The role of this reduction in retinal oxygen extraction in the disease process and whether it is a cause or consequence needs to be further investigated.

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

×
×

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.

×