Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 10, 2026
Dynamic Visual Tests to Identify and Quantify Visual Damage and Repair Following Demyelination in Optic Neuritis Patients
Published on: April 14, 2014
Retinal nerve fibre layer measurements and optic nerve head analysis in multiple sclerosis patients
1Department of Neurosciences, Ophthalmology and Genetics, University of Genoa, Italy. iester@unige.it
Purpose:
To verify whether scanning laser polarimeter with the new variable corneal compensation algorithm (GDx VCC) and scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT)) allow measuring retinal ganglion cell loss in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Patients And Methods:
We enrolled 23 MS patients with a history of previous demyelinating monocular optic neuritis. Examination included visual evoked potentials (VEPs), scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, and scanning laser polarimeter. HRT was performed to assess optic nerve head (ONH) shape, while GDx VCC was used to evaluate the retinal nerve fibre layer thickness (RNFLt) around the ONH. Statistical analysis was performed comparing results obtained for each eye with the available normative database and with the unaffected fellow eye.
Results:
When the affected eye group was compared to the fellow-eye group, a significant (P<0.05) difference was found for few GDx VCC parameters. In contrast, no significant correlation was observed between clinical assessment and imaging techniques when the normal database of HRT and GDx VCC was used. A significant association was observed between VEP latency and some GDx VCC parameters.
Conclusions:
Our results suggested that scanning laser polarimetry could detect loss of ganglion cells following demyelinating optic neuritis, but further studies are needed.
