Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness changes following optic neuritis caused by multiple sclerosis

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Neuroscience
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Optic neuritis (ON), often associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), affects the optic nerve.
• Assessing peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness is crucial for understanding ON-related damage.
• Scanning laser polarimetry (SLP) offers a non-invasive method to evaluate RNFL thickness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate peripapillary RNFL thickness using SLP in patients with MS-related ON.
• To compare RNFL thickness in patients with nonrecurrent ON, recurrent ON, and healthy controls.
• To investigate the correlation between RNFL thickness and visual function parameters.

Main Methods:

• Peripapillary RNFL thickness was measured using GDx VCC SLP.
• Three patient groups were studied: nonrecurrent ON (14 eyes), recurrent ON (18 eyes), and healthy controls (48 eyes).
• GDx VCC parameters (TSNIT average, superior average, inferior average) were compared; correlations with visual field mean deviation (MD) and visual acuity (VA) were calculated.

Main Results:

• Statistically significant differences in RNFL thickness parameters were observed across the three groups.
• No correlation was found between GDx VCC parameters and MD or VA in the nonrecurrent ON group.
• Significant correlations were found between all three GDx VCC parameters and MD in the recurrent ON group.

Conclusions:

• Optic neuritis causes morphological changes in the peripapillary RNFL.
• Recurrent ON exacerbates RNFL deterioration.
• Recurrent ON leads to diffuse rather than regional damage to the peripapillary RNFL.