[Quo vadis neuroimaging? The eye as window to the brain. Current options and future perspectives]

A possible manifestation site for multiple sclerosis (MS) is the optic nerve which clinically presents as optic neuritis. In recent years studies have shown that MS patients have a reduced retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness. The literature and own investigations could show that MS patients have a thinning of the RNFL (especially in temporal quadrants) with reduction of the total macular volume and this alteration is also correlated with the severity of the disease. Neuromyelitis optica (monophasic) shows an extreme thinning of the RNFL with severe reduction in vision. In neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, a thinning of the RNFL is also present mostly in all quadrants. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and schizophrenia do not show alterations of the retinal layers with optical coherence tomography.