Author: Gulfidan Bitirgen (Turkey)
Co-authors: Zehra Akpinar, Ali Ulvi Uca
Purpose
The aim of this study was to evaluate longitudinal alterations in central inner retinal layers over 2 years in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Setting/Venue
This study was conducted at the Department of Ophthalmology, Necmettin Erbakan University Meram Medical Faculty Hospital, Konya, Turkey.
Methods
Twenty-five patients with relapsing-remitting MS were included in this prospective cohort study. The Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS) were used to assess neurological disability and disease severity. All subjects underwent complete ophthalmic evaluation including spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT, Spectralis, Heidelberg, Germany) imaging, and automated retinal layer segmentation was performed by the software of the device. Total macular volume (TMV), central macular thickness (CMT), and the average thicknesses of total inner retinal layers (IRL), nerve fiber layer (NFL), ganglion cell layer (GCL), inner plexiform layer (IPL), and inner nuclear layer (INL) were measured at the center of the fovea (1 mm) and four quadrants (superior, inferior, nasal, temporal) of the parafoveal region (1-3 mm).
Results
The mean age of the patients with MS was 33.6 ± 7.9 years. There were no significant changes in the total macular volume (TMV) and central macular thickness (CMT) measurements between baseline and follow-up visits (P=0.947 and P=0.564, respectively). The total IRL thickness at superior (P=0.039) and nasal (P=0.013) quadrants, and the average GCL thickness at the nasal quadrant (P=0.031) were significantly reduced after two years of follow-up, while other parameters did not show any significant changes. In the subgroup of patients without previous optic neuritis (ON) (n=11; 44%), the mean GCL thickness at superior (P=0.049) and nasal (P=0.014) quadrants were significantly lower at the follow-up visit compared to the baseline measurements.
Conlusions
Patients with MS demonstrate progressive thinning in macular inner retinal layers even in the subgroup of patients without previous ON, suggestive of an ongoing neuronal degeneration.
Financial Disclosure
The authors have no financial interest to disclose.
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