Retinal degeneration in primary-progressive multiple sclerosis: A role for cortical lesions?

Mult Scler

Departments of Neurology, Radiology and Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA/Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal and Perinatal Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.

Published: January 2017

Background: Retinal atrophy in multiple sclerosis (MS) is secondary to optic nerve focal inflammation and to injury of the posterior visual pathway.

Objectives: To investigate the contribution of cortical lesions (CLs) to retinal pathology in primary-progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS).

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional evaluation of 25 patients and 20 controls, relating magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) metrics of visual pathway integrity with parameters derived from spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, ganglion cell + inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness, and macular volume (MV)).

Results: Mean RNFL, GCIPL thickness, and MV were significantly reduced in patients compared to controls. MV and GCIPL thickness were significantly correlated with visual acuity. RNFL thinning was associated with thalamus and visual cortex volume (respectively, p = 0.01 and p < 0.05). In addition to thalamic volume, GCIPL thinning was associated with CLs and intracortical lesion number and volume, leucocortical lesion volume (all p ⩽ 0.05) while MV decrease was associated with CLs volume ( p = 0.05) and intracortical lesion number and volume ( p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Our results suggest that RNFL thinning and GCIPL thinning/MV decrease may be explained by alternative mechanisms including retrograde trans-synaptic degeneration and/or a common pathophysiologic process affecting both the brain with CLs and the retina with neuronal loss.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1352458516637679DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

multiple sclerosis
12
gcipl thickness
12
primary-progressive multiple
8
retinal
4
retinal degeneration
4
degeneration primary-progressive
4
sclerosis role
4
role cortical
4
cortical lesions?
4
lesions? background
4

Similar Publications

Neuropathological contributions to grey matter atrophy and white matter hyperintensities in amnestic dementia.

Alzheimers Res Ther

January 2025

Laboratory for Clinical Neuroscience, Center for Biomedical Technology, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, IdISSC, Crta M40, km38, Madrid, 28223, Spain.

Background: Dementia patients commonly present multiple neuropathologies, worsening cognitive function, yet structural neuroimaging signatures of dementia have not been positioned in the context of combined pathology. In this study, we implemented an MRI voxel-based approach to explore combined and independent effects of dementia pathologies on grey and white matter structural changes.

Methods: In 91 amnestic dementia patients with post-mortem brain donation, grey matter density and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) burdens were obtained from pre-mortem MRI and analyzed in relation to Alzheimer's, vascular, Lewy body, TDP-43, and hippocampal sclerosis (HS) pathologies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Upper limb (UL) impairment is common in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS), and functional recovery of the UL is a key rehabilitation goal. Technology-based approaches, like virtual reality (VR), are increasingly promising. While most VR environments are task-oriented, our clinical approach integrates neuroproprioceptive 'facilitation and inhibition' (NFI) principles.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Deep learning MRI models for the differential diagnosis of tumefactive demyelination versus -wildtype glioblastoma.

AJNR Am J Neuroradiol

January 2025

From the Department of Radiology (GMC, MM, YN, BJE), Department of Quantitative Health Sciences (PAD, MLK, JEEP), Department of Neurology (CBM, JAS, MWR, FSG, HKP, DHL, WOT), Department of Neurosurgery (TCB), Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology (RBJ), and Center for Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Neurology (WOT), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Dell Medical School (MFE), University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.

Background And Purpose: Diagnosis of tumefactive demyelination can be challenging. The diagnosis of indeterminate brain lesions on MRI often requires tissue confirmation via brain biopsy. Noninvasive methods for accurate diagnosis of tumor and non-tumor etiologies allows for tailored therapy, optimal tumor control, and a reduced risk of iatrogenic morbidity and mortality.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

FAST: Fast, free, consistent, and unsupervised oligodendrocyte segmentation and tracking system.

eNeuro

January 2025

Penn Statistics in Imaging and Visualization Center (PennSIVE), Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 19104, USA.

To develop reparative therapies for neurological disorders like multiple sclerosis (MS), we need to better understand the physiology of loss and replacement of oligodendrocytes, the cells that make myelin and are the target of damage in MS. In vivo two-photon fluorescence microscopy allows direct visualization of oligodendrocytes in the intact brain of transgenic mouse models, promising a deeper understanding of the longitudinal dynamics of replacing oligodendrocytes after damage. However, the task of tracking the fate of individual oligodendrocytes requires extensive effort for manual annotation and is especially challenging in three-dimensional images.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience difficulties in understanding speech in noise despite having normal hearing.

Aim: This study aimed to determine the relationship between speech discrimination in noise (SDN) and medial olivocochlear reflex levels and to compare MS patients with a control group.

Material And Methods: Sixty participants with normal hearing, comprising 30 MS patients and 30 healthy controls, were included.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!