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Updated: May 27, 2026
Dynamic Visual Tests to Identify and Quantify Visual Damage and Repair Following Demyelination in Optic Neuritis Patients
Published on: April 14, 2014
Exploring the Association between Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness and Initial Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings
Fiona Costello1, William Hodge, Y Irene Pan
1Departments of Clinical Neurosciences and Surgery, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 2T9.
Abstract:
Background. Recent studies have shown that OCT-measured retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) values may represent a marker for axonal damage in the anterior visual pathway of optic neuritis (ON) and multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The goal of this study was to determine the link between RNFL values and initial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evidence of central nervous system (CNS) inflammation in patients with acute ON. Methods. Fifty patients who experienced ON as a clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) were followed for a mean period of 34 months with OCT testing. RNFL values in affected (ON) eyes and clinically unaffected (non-ON) eyes were compared between patients with MRI evidence of white matter lesions and those with normal baseline MRI findings, over a two year period. Findings. Twenty-one patients (42%) developed clinically definite MS (CDMS) during the study. After two years, temporal RNFL values were thinner (P = .07) in ON patients with MRI lesions at baseline, but the results were not significant. Conclusions. There is no association between RNFL values and baseline MRI status in ON patients at risk for future CDMS over a two year period.
