Silent Brain Infarctions and Leukoaraiosis in Patients With Retinal Ischemia: A Prospective Single-Center Observational Study.

Background And Purpose: We aimed to determine the incidence of co-occurring cerebral ischemia, extent of cerebral small vessel disease, and vascular risk profile of patients with acute retinal ischemia.

Methods: RETIS (Frequency of Acute Silent Brain Infarction and Systematic Evaluation of Stroke Risk in Retinal Ischemia) was a single-center, prospective, observational study comprising ophthalmologic examination, brain magnetic resonance imaging, and extensive diagnostic work-up of vascular risk factors and stroke cause. Silent brain infarctions were identified on diffusion-weighted imaging, leukoaraiosis was quantified on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery sequences, and carotid artery stenosis was assessed by carotid ultrasound.

Pattern of gray matter volumes related to retinal thickness and its association with cognitive function in relapsing-remitting MS.

Background: Neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis (MS) may be investigated in the visual system as optical coherence tomography (OCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows examining structural integrity in detail. The association between thickness of retinal layers and focal cortical volumes beyond the primary visual system has not been thoroughly investigated.

Objective: To investigate the association between focal cortical volume and thickness of retinal layers.

Detection of retinal changes in idiopathic Parkinson's disease using high-resolution optical coherence tomography and heidelberg retina tomography.

Purpose: The study was performed to analyse the retina of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) for morphological changes compared to healthy controls (HC) using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy.

Methods: We enrolled 108 patients with idiopathic PD and 165 HC. All study participants underwent an ophthalmological examination to exclude ophthalmological disorder potentially interfering with the retinal analyses.

Scanning laser polarimetry and spectral domain optical coherence tomography for the detection of retinal changes in Parkinson's disease.

Purpose: Whether retinal degeneration is part of the degenerative processes in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) is still unclear. This cross-sectional study was undertaken to compare the retinal morphology of patients with PD and healthy controls using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and scanning laser polarimetry (SLP).

Methods: Both eyes of patients with PD (n = 108) and healthy controls (n = 165) were examined using SD-OCT and SLP on the same day.

A randomized, double-blind, phase 2 study of erythropoietin in optic neuritis.

Objective: Based on findings in animal models of autoimmune optic nerve inflammation, we have assessed the safety and efficacy of erythropoietin in patients presenting with a first episode of optic neuritis.

Methods: Patients with optic neuritis who attended the University Hospitals of Homburg/Saar, Göttingen, or Hamburg (Germany) were included in this double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 study (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00355095).