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Dynamic Visual Tests to Identify and Quantify Visual Damage and Repair Following Demyelination in Optic Neuritis Patients
Published on: April 14, 2014
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Parallel changes in structural and functional measures of optic nerve myelination after optic neuritis
Anneke van der Walt1, Scott Kolbe2, Peter Mitchell3
1Centre for Neuroscience, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Neurology, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Plos One
|May 29, 2015
Summary
Optic neuritis (ON) lesion length and multifocal visual evoked potential (mfVEP) latency are strongly linked. Their parallel recovery suggests optic nerve remyelination after demyelination.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Ophthalmology
- Clinical Neurology
Background:
- Optic neuritis (ON) involves demyelination of the optic nerve.
- Visual evoked potential (VEP) latency and optic nerve lesion length correlate with demyelination severity.
- Recovery of VEP latency may indicate optic nerve remyelination.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between multifocal VEP (mfVEP) latency and optic nerve lesion length in patients with acute ON.
- To assess the correlation and recovery trends of these two measures over 12 months.
Main Methods:
- Thirty patients with acute ON were studied.
- mfVEP and optic nerve MRI were performed at multiple time points (1, 3, 6, 12 months for mfVEP; 1, 12 months for MRI).
- LogMAR and low-contrast visual acuity were recorded. Data from 23 patients with sufficient mfVEP data were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Both mfVEP latency and optic nerve lesion length showed significant recovery over 12 months.
- A strong correlation was observed between lesion length and mfVEP latency at 1 month (r=0.94) and 12 months (r=0.75).
- Latency recovery was faster initially, while lesion length reduction was more constant, with 1mm of lesion accounting for 1.76 ms delay at 1 month and 1.94 ms at 12 months.
Conclusions:
- A strong association exists between optic nerve lesion length and mfVEP latency in ON.
- The parallel recovery of these measures supports the hypothesis of optic nerve remyelination in both early and chronic stages of ON.
