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Using Optical Coherence Tomography and Optokinetic Response As Structural and Functional Visual System Readouts in Mice and Rats
Published on: January 10, 2019
Is optical coherence tomography really a new biomarker candidate in multiple sclerosis?--A structural and functional
Fatih C Gundogan1, Seref Demirkaya, Gungor Sobaci
1Department of Ophthalmology, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey. fgundogan@yahoo.com
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
|December 7, 2007
Summary
Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients without optic neuritis show reduced temporal retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and delayed pattern visual evoked potential (PVEP) responses. RNFL thickness did not correlate with PVEP, suggesting PVEP is a better biomarker for visual pathway changes in MS.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Ophthalmology
- Clinical Neurology
Background:
- Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease affecting the central nervous system.
- Visual pathway involvement is common in MS, but often assessed after optic neuritis.
- Assessing subclinical visual pathway changes in MS patients without a history of optic neuritis is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the structural and functional status of the visual pathway in MS patients who have not experienced optic neuritis.
- To investigate potential biomarkers for early detection of visual impairment in MS.
Main Methods:
- Thirty-nine MS patients with no prior optic neuritis and 38 healthy controls underwent optical coherence tomography (OCT) for retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness measurement.
- Pattern visual evoked potentials (PVEP), full-field electroretinogram (ERG), and multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG) were performed to assess visual pathway function.
Main Results:
- MS patients exhibited significantly reduced temporal RNFL thickness and delayed PVEP P(100) latency.
- Significant reductions in P(100) amplitude and delays in ERG implicit times were observed in MS patients.
- No significant differences were found in mfERG results between MS and control groups.
Conclusions:
- RNFL thickness and PVEP P(100) response are not correlated in MS patients.
- PVEP is a more sensitive biomarker than RNFL thickness for detecting visual pathway involvement in MS patients without a history of optic neuritis.
