Retinal involvement in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a study with optical coherence tomography and diffusion tensor...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Ophthalmology
• Neurology

Background:

• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is primarily characterized by motor neuron degeneration.
• Emerging evidence suggests broader pathology in ALS, including non-motor symptoms.
• Retinal thinning is a known feature in other neurodegenerative diseases, but ALS-specific retinal studies are limited and yield inconsistent results.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically investigate retinal alterations in ALS patients.
• To explore the relationship between retinal layer thickness and neurodegeneration measured by Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI).
• To assess the potential of retinal changes as a biomarker for ALS.

Main Methods:

• Combined Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and DTI to analyze retinal structure and white matter integrity.
• Measured average thickness of retinal layers in 71 ALS patients and 20 controls.
• Assessed fractional anisotropy (FA) in the corticospinal tract (CST) of 30 ALS patients and correlated with retinal measurements and clinical data.

Main Results:

• ALS patients exhibited significant thinning in the inner nuclear layer (INL) and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) compared to controls.
• A significant correlation was found between retinal thickness and FA values in the CST of ALS patients.
• No significant correlation was observed between clinical parameters and the extent of retinal involvement.

Conclusions:

• This study provides evidence of retinal involvement in ALS.
• Reduced FA in the CST of ALS patients is associated with retinal thinning.
• Retinal changes in ALS are linked to overall neurodegeneration and may represent a potential imaging biomarker.