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Retinal Blood Vessel Analysis Using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) in Multiple Sclerosis.
Nicholas Young1, Robert Zivadinov1,2, Michael G Dwyer1
1Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center (BNAC), Department of Neurology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA.
Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland)
|February 25, 2023
Summary
People with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) show reduced retinal blood vessels and vessel diameter compared to healthy controls (HCs). Over five years, pwMS experience significant retinal vascular changes linked to retinal layer atrophy.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Neuroscience
- Vascular Biology
Background:
- Multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with retinal neurodegeneration and cardiovascular issues.
- Extracranial and intracranial vascular changes are noted in MS, but neuroretinal vasculature remains understudied.
- Understanding retinal vascular changes in MS is crucial for disease monitoring and management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare retinal vasculature characteristics between people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) and healthy controls (HCs).
- To investigate the longitudinal changes in retinal vasculature in pwMS.
- To determine the relationship between retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and retinal vasculature in pwMS.
Main Methods:
- 167 pwMS and 48 HCs underwent optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans.
- Longitudinal analysis included 101 pwMS and 35 HCs with prior OCT scans.
- Retinal vasculature segmentation was performed using OCTSEG software in a blinded manner.
Main Results:
- PwMS exhibited significantly fewer retinal blood vessels (35.1 vs. 36.8, p=0.017) compared to HCs.
- Over 5.4 years, pwMS showed a significant decrease in retinal vessel number (-3.7, p=0.007), while HCs showed an increase.
- PwMS had no change in total vessel diameter, unlike HCs who showed an increase (0.06 vs. 0.3, p=0.017).
- Lower RNFL thickness in pwMS correlated with fewer retinal vessels and smaller diameter (r=0.191, p=0.018; r=0.216, p=0.007).
Conclusions:
- PwMS experience significant retinal vascular changes over a 5-year period.
- These vascular changes in pwMS are associated with increased atrophy of retinal layers.
- Retinal vasculature may serve as a biomarker for neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis.
