Retinal degeneration is associated with brain volume reduction and prognosis in radiologically isolated syndrome.

BACKGROUND: The extent of neurodegeneration in the earliest stages of central nervous system (CNS) demyelination is not known. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a powerful tool to study neurodegeneration in demyelinating disorders. OBJECTIVES: To study neuroaxonal loss in the retina of individuals with radiologically isolated syndrome (RIS) and investigate whether OCT measurements are associated with brain volumetrics and clinical conversion to multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS: Subjects fulfilling the Okuda criteria for RIS (n = 15 patients, 30 eyes) and age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) underwent spectral-domain OCT and magnetic resonance imaging for volumetric measurement of brain structures. RESULTS: Macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (mGCIPL), macular retinal nerve fiber layer (mRNFL), and temporal peripapillary RNFL (pRNFL) thickness; normalized total brain volume (nTBV); and normalized thalamic volume (nTV) were reduced in RIS compared to HC. mGCIPL, mRNFL, and pRNFL measurements were associated with nTBV, nTV, and normalized gray and white matter volumes in the RIS group. pRNFL was thinner in individuals with RIS who converted to MS in 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: Retinal neurodegeneration can be detected in the papillomacular region in the earliest stages of CNS demyelination and reflects global disease processes in the brain. OCT can be potentially useful for predicting prognosis in RIS.

Predictors of progression in primary progressive multiple sclerosis in a large Turkish cohort.

BACKGROUND: Studies on the predictors of progression for primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) are limited and there is no information in the literature for populations outside Europe and North America. In this study, we aimed to identify predictors of progression in a large Turkish PPMS cohort. METHODS: We analyzed a cohort of 157 PPMS patients to investigate the effect of age of onset, gender, onset symptoms, presence or absence of relapses, and baseline gadolinium-enhancing lesions on the rate of progression to EDSS6 by using Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariate Cox regression. RESULTS: Older age of onset and presence of spinal motor symptoms at onset were associated with a shorter time to EDSS6 and presence of supratentorial signs at onset was associated with a longer time to EDSS6 according to Kaplan-Meier analysis. These factors remained significant after multivariate Cox-regression analysis. Clinical relapses were present in 22.3% and gadolinium-enhancing lesions on baseline MRI were present in 28% of patients, but these factors were not predictive of time to EDSS6. CONCLUSION: We identified age of onset and symptom at onset as predictors of progression in Turkish PPMS patients. Presence of clinical relapses or baseline gadolinium-enhancing lesions did not affect PPMS progression rate.