Visual Evoked Potential and Magnetic Resonance Imaging are More Effective Markers of Multiple Sclerosis Progression than Laser Polarimetry with Variable Corneal Compensation

Abstract

Background: The aim of our study was to assess the role of laser polarimetry and visual evoked potentials (VEP) as potential biomarkers of disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS).Participants: A total of 41 patients with MS (82 eyes) and 22 age-related healthy volunteers (44 eyes) completed the study. MS patients were divided into two groups, one (ON) with a history of optic neuritis (17 patients, 34 eyes) and another group (NON) without it (24 patients, 48 eyes). The MS patients and controls underwent laser polarimetry (GDx) examination of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL). In the MS group, we also examined: Kurtzke “expanded disability status scale” (EDSS), the duration of the disorder, VEP – latency and amplitude, and conventional brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Our results were statistically analyzed using ANOVA, Mann–Whitney, and Spearman correlation analyses.Results: In the MS group, brain atrophy and new T2 brain lesions in MRI correlated with both VEP latencies and amplitudes. Separate comparisons revealed VEP latency testing to be less sensitive in ON than in NON-patients. In ON patients, VEP amplitudes correlated mildly with brain atrophy (r = −0.15) and strongly with brain new MRI lesions (r = −0.8). In NON-patients, highly significant correlation of new MRI brain lesions with VEP latencies (r = 0.63, r = 0.6) and amplitudes (r = −0.3, r = −4.2) was found. EDSS also correlated with brain atrophy in this group (r = 0.5). Our study did not find a correlation of GDx measures with MRI tests. The GDx method was not able to detect whole brain demyelinization and the degeneration process, but was only able to reveal the involvement of optic nerves in ON and NON-patients.Conclusion: In our study, we found that both methods (VEP and GDx) can be used for the detection of optic nerve damage, but VEP was found to be superior in evaluating whole brain demyelinization and axonal degeneration. Both VEP and MRI, but not GDx, have an important role in monitoring disease progression in MS patients, independent of the ON history.

Whole-Brain Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Correlation to Visual-Evoked Potentials in Multiple Sclerosis: A Tract-Based Spatial Statistics Analysis

“…While some studies showed no correlations between evoked potentials and MR imaging, 11 other studies reported significant correlations between VEP and T2 lesion load. 12 However, to the best of our knowledge, a correlation of DTI with VEP has not been published.…”

Neuregulin-1 protects against acute optic nerve injury in rat model

“…Our results showed that the latency was extended and FVEP-P100 amplitude sharply fell in the first day following injury, but maximal recovery was seen with 14 d. FVEP is useful tool for recoding the local responses from visual field defects and can diagnose optic nerve disorders in patients, in conjunction with optical coherence tomography imaging [19]. FVEP is a superior in monitoring the progression optic nerve injury, an provides an accurate estimation of demyelinization and axonal degeneration [20]. Most importantly, in our experimental model of optic nerve injury, protection and functional recovery by NRG-1 treatment was clearly demonstrated by shorter latency and higher FVEP-P100 amplitude.…”

Elektroretinografi Ve Görsel Uyarılmış Potansiyel Ölçümlerinde Zenon Ve LED Işık Kaynaklarının Karşılaştırılması

“…Özellikle prekiazmatik görme yollarının işlevini değerlendirmede kullanılan önemli bir inceleme yöntemidir (4). Görme keskinliğinin nesnel değerlendirmesi ve ambliyopi izlemi için kullanılabildiği gibi (5), multipl skleroz ya da diğer nedenlere bağlı optik nörit tanısında da sıklıkla kullanılmaktadır (6). Manyetik rezonans görüntüleme ile karşılaştırıldığında daha düşük maliyetli ve daha fazla lezyon saptama oranına sahip olduğu belirtilmiştir (7)(8).…”