Alterations of optic tract and retinal structure in patients after thalamic stroke

To investigate the association between degeneration of retinal structure and shrinkage of the optic tract in patients after thalamic stroke.

Patients with unilateral thalamic stroke were included. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were performed to obtain parameters of optic tract shrinkage (lateral index) and retina structural thickness (retinal nerve fiber layer, RNFL; peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer, pRNFL; ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer, GCIP), respectively. Visual acuity (VA) examination under illumination was conducted using Snellen charts and then converted to the logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (LogMAR). We investigated the association between LI and OCT parameters and their relationships with VA.

A total of 33 patients and 23 age-sex matched stroke-free healthy controls were enrolled. Patients with thalamic stroke showed altered LI compared with control participants (P = 0.011) and a significantly increased value of LI in the subgroup of disease duration more than 6 months (P = 0.004). In these patients, LI were significantly associated with pRNFL thickness (β = 0.349, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.134-0.564, P = 0.002) after adjusting for confounders (age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and lesion volume). LI and pRNFL were both significantly associated with VA in all patients (LI: β = -0.275, 95% CI: -0.539 to -0.011, P = 0.041; pRNFL: β = -0.023, 95% CI: -0.046 to -0.001, P = 0.040) and in subgroup of disease duration more than 6 months (LI: β = -0.290, 95% CI: -0.469 to -0.111, P = 0.002; pRNFL: β = -0.041, 95% CI: -0.065 to -0.017, P = 0.003).

Shrinkage of the optic tract can be detected in patients with thalamic stroke, especially after 6 months of stroke onset. In these patients, the extent of optic tract atrophy is associated with pRNFL thickness, and they are both related to visual acuity changes.