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Using Retinal Imaging to Study Dementia
Published on: November 6, 2017
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Using retinal diagnostics as a biomarker for neurodegenerative diseases: protocol for a systematic review
Zeynep Sahin-Lodge1, Sara Pisani2, Paul Nderitu3
1Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, King's College London Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, London, England, UK zeynep.sahin-lodge@kcl.ac.uk.
BMJ Open
|November 17, 2025
Summary
Retinal imaging can detect neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. This review compares how well different eye scans identify and subtype these conditions.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Neurology
- Biomarkers
Background:
- Neurodegeneration in the retina is linked to systemic neurodegenerative diseases.
- Effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) necessitate biomarkers for early diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment stratification.
- Oculomics leverages retinal biomarkers for characterizing systemic and neurodegenerative diseases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the diagnostic performance of common retinal imaging modalities in detecting and subtyping neurodegenerative diseases.
- To evaluate the association between retinal changes and specific neurodegenerative disease subtypes.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search of PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus following PRISMA-P guidelines.
- Inclusion of studies using optical coherence tomography (OCT), OCT angiography (OCTA), colour fundus photography (CFP), and electroretinography (ERG) in patients with AD, PD, and related dementias.
- Data extraction and quality assessment (GRADE) by two independent reviewers, with narrative synthesis and potential meta-analysis.
Main Results:
- Primary outcome: performance of OCT, OCTA, CFP, and ERG in neurodegenerative disease detection and subtyping.
- Secondary outcome: association between retinal layer thickness changes and disease subtypes.
- Studies will be assessed for quality using the GRADE tool.
Conclusions:
- Retinal diagnostics show promise for neurodegenerative disease detection and subtyping.
- Further research comparing imaging modalities is crucial for clinical application.
- Oculomics offers a novel approach to understanding and managing neurodegenerative conditions.
