A comparative optical coherence tomography study in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Objectives:

The aim of this study was to find, using spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), retinal imaging biomarkers differentiating neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), multiple sclerosis (MS) and healthy controls (HCs).

Materials and methods:

The population was composed of patients with NMOSD (n=23) or MS (n=110) and of HCs (n=75). Evaluation criteria were retinal thickness/volume, visual acuity, low contrast vision acuity and Expanded Disability Status Scale score.

Results:

Considering all eyes and after statistical adjustments including the number of optic neuritis (ON) episodes, we found that NMOSD patients did not have significantly more retinal atrophy than MS patients; whereas MS non-optic neuritis (NON) eyes had thinner temporal (p=0.032) and temporo-superior peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (pRNFL; p=0.011) thicknesses than NMOSD NON eyes; in addition, NMOSD NON eyes presented significant naso-inferior pRNFL (p=0.024), temporal pRNFL (p=0.039), macular ganglion cell complex (p=0.004) and ganglion cell layer (p=0.002) atrophy vs HC eyes. We identified significant correlations between visual and clinical disability and retinal thicknesses in both diseases.

Conclusion:

OCT may help to differentiate NMOSD and MS by focusing on the NON eyes (temporal pRNFL atrophy more severe in MS). Moreover, we discuss the possibility of a retinal degenerative process independent of ON in NMOSD.

Keywords

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder multiple sclerosis optical coherence tomography

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

De Seze

Blanc

Jeanjean

. Optical coherence tomography in neuromyelitis optica. Arch Neurol 2008; 65: 920–923.

Merle

Olindo

Donnio

. Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in neuromyelitis optica. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2008; 49: 4412–4417.

Ratchford

Quigg

Conger

. Optical coherence tomography helps differentiate neuromyelitis optica and MS optic neuropathies. Neurology 2009; 73: 302–308.

Monteiro

MLR

Fernandes

Apostolos-Pereira

. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2012; 53: 3959–3966.

Petzold

Wattjes

Costello

. The investigation of acute optic neuritis: A review and a proposed protocol. Nat Rev Neurol 2014; 10: 447–458.

Naismith

Tutlam

. Optical coherence tomography differs in neuromyelitis optica compared with multiple sclerosis. Neurology 2009; 72: 1077–1082.

Wingerchuk

Banwell

Bennett

. Revised diagnostic criteria for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders. Neurology 2014; 82: S63:001.

Polman

Reingold

Banwell

. Diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis: 2010 revisions to McDonald criteria. Ann Neurol 2011; 69: 292–302.

Shippling

Balk

Costello

. Quality control for retina OCT in multiple sclerosis: Validation of the OSCAR-IB criteria. Mult Scler 2014; 21: 163–170.

10.

Balk

Twisk

JWR

Steenwijk

. A dam for retrograde axonal degeneration in multiple sclerosis? J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2014; 85: 782–789.

11.

Nakamura

Nakazawa

Doi

. Early high dose intravenous methylprednisolone is effective in preserving retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in patients with neuromyelitis optica. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 2010; 248: 1777–1785.

12.

Costello

Hodge

Pan

. Tracking retinal nerve fiber layer loss after optic neuritis: A prospective study using optical coherence tomography. Mult Scler 2008; 14: 893–905.

13.

Park

Kim

. Analysis of spectral domain optical coherence tomography measurements in optic neuritis: Differences in neuromyelitis optica, multiple sclerosis, isolated optic neuritis and normal healthy controls. Acta Ophthalmol 2014; 92: e57–e65.

14.

Green

Cree

. Distinctive retinal fibre layer and vascular changes in neuromyelitis optica following optic neuritis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2009; 80: 1002–1005.

15.

Pueyo

Martin

Fernandez

. Axonal loss in the retinal nerve fiber layer in patients with multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler 2008; 14: 609–614.

16.

Evangelou

Konz

Esiri

. Size-selective neuronal changes in the anterior optic pathways suggest a differential susceptibility to injury in multiple sclerosis. Brain 2001; 124: 1813–1820.

17.

Syc

Saidha

Newsome

. Optical coherence tomography segmentation reveals ganglion cell layer pathology after optic neuritis. Brain 2012; 135: 521–533.

18.

Schneider

Zimmermann

Oberwahrenbrock

. Optical coherence tomography reveals distinct patterns of retinal damage in neuromyelitis optica and multiple sclerosis. PloS One 2013.

19.

Fernandes

Raza

Nogueira

RGF

. Evaluation of inner retinal layers in patients with multiple sclerosis of neuromyelitis optica using optical coherence tomography. Ophthalmology 2013; 120: 387–394.

20.

Sortichos

Saidha

Byraiah

. In vivo identification of morphologic retinal abnormalities in neuromyelitis optica. Neurology 2013; 80: 1406–1414.

21.

Lange

Sadjadi

Zhu

. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in NMO patients. J Neuroophthalmol 2013; 33: 213–219.

22.

Ringelstein

Kleiter

Ayzenberg

. Visual evoked potentials in neuromyelitis optica and its spectrum disorders. Mult Scler 2014; 20: 617–620.

23.

Ayrignac

Daliere

Nerrant

. Extensive cerebral white matter involvement in a patient with NMO spectrum disorder. Mult Scler 2014; 20: 1401–1403.

24.

Chanson

Lamy

Rousseau

. White matter volume is decreased in the brain of patients with neuromyelitis optica. Eur J Neurol 2013; 20: 361–367.

25.

Banker

Sonni

Kister

. Pencil-thin ependymal enhancement in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders. Mult Scler 2012; 18: 1050–1053.

26.

Hamann

Zeuthen

La Cour

. Aquaporins in complex tissues: Distribution of aquaporins 1–5 in human and rat eye. Am J Physiol 1998; 274: 1332–1345.

27.

Balk

Steenwijk

Tewarie

. Bidirectional trans-synaptic axonal degeneration in the visual pathway in multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2015; 86: 419–424.

28.

Bichuetti

de Camargo

Falcao

. The retinal nerve fiber layer of patients with neuromyelitis optica and chronic relapsing optic neuritis is more severely damaged than patients with multiple sclerosis. J Neuro-Ophthalmol 2013; 33: 220–224.

29.

Kaufhold

Zimmermann

Schneider

. Optic neuritis is associated with inner nuclear layer thickening and microcystic macular edema independently of multiple sclerosis. PloS One 2013; 8: e71145.

30.

Gelfand

Cree

Nolan

. Microcystic inner nuclear layer abnormalities and neuromyelitis optica. JAMA Neurol 2013; 70: 629–633.

31.

Saidha

Sortichos

Ibrahim

. Microcystic macular oedema, thickness of the inner nuclear layer of the retina, and disease characteristics in multiple sclerosis: A retrospective study. Lancet Neurol 2012; 11: 963–972.

32.

Gelfand

Nolan

Schwartz

. Microcystic macular oedema in multiple sclerosis is associated with disease severity. Brain 2012; 135: 1786–1793.

33.

Burggraaff

Trieu

de Vries-Knoppert

WAEJ

. The clinical spectrum of microcystic macular edema. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2014; 55: 952–961.

34.

Bock

Brandt

Kuchenbecker

. Impairment of contrast visual acuity as a functional correlate of retinal nerve fibre layer thinning and total macular volume reduction in multiple sclerosis. Br J Ophthalmol 2012; 96: 62–67.

35.

Wingerchuk

Lennon

Luchinetti

. The spectrum of neuromyelitis optica. Lancet Neurol 2007; 6: 805–815.

36.

Von Glehn

Jarius

Cavalcanti Lira

. Structural brain abnormalities are related to retinal nerve fiber thinning and disease duration in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders. Mult Scler 2014; 20: 1189–1197.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.26 MB