Long-term structural retinal changes in patients with optic neuritis related to multiple sclerosis

Figures & data

Table 1 Differences between patients with and without history of self-reported ON

	Eye with history of ON		P-value
	Yes	No
Number	23	44
Age (years)	49.3 (39.0–62.8)	50.0 (33.1–72.6)	0.72
Sex (% male)	39.1	22.7	0.16
Time since onset of MS (years)	12 (9–15)	13 (9–15)	0.08
Visual acuity (ETDRS letters)	87 (63–93)	86 (76–93)	0.50
Ishihara (number of errors)	0 (0–16)	0 (0–16)	0.50
Intraocular pressure (mmHg)	15 (7–26)	15 (10–23)	0.82
CRT (μm)	228 (199–274)	230 (179–290)	0.46
RNFL
Superior (μm)	111 (74–124)	108 (70–142)	0.39
Inferior (μm)	109 (73–131)	113 (91–150)	0.04*
Temporal (μm)	56 (32–84)	67 (43–95)	0.01*
Nasal (μm)	83 (56–115)	81 (54–101)	0.90
Mean (μm)	87 (61–105)	92 (70–113)	0.07
CRT/RNFLmean ratio	2.6 (2.0–3.8)	2.5 (1.8–3.7)	0.12

Notes: Continuous data presented as median (with range), and categorical data presented as percentage. Mean values of left and right eye used for patients with history of no or bilateral ON. Values of eye with ON were used for patients with history of unilateral ON.

* Statistically significant (P<0.05).

Abbreviations: CRT, central retinal thickness; ETDRS, Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study; MS, multiple sclerosis; ON, optic neuritis; RNFL, retinal nerve fiber layer.

Table 2 Differences between eyes in patients with history of self-reported unilateral ON

	Eye with history of ON		P-value
Number	20
Age (years)	47.1 (39.0–62.8)
Sex (% male)	40.0
Time since onset of MS (years)	12 (9–15)
	Yes	No
Visual acuity (ETDRS letters)	87 (63–93)	88 (58–97)	0.82
Ishihara (number of errors)	1 (0–16)	1 (0–16)	0.57
Intraocular pressure (mmHg)	15 (7–26)	15 (9–23)	0.26
CRT (μm)	226 (199–274)	225 (203–266)	0.61
RNFL
Superior (μm)	110 (74–124)	109 (85–133)	0.20
Inferior (μm)	109 (73–131)	115 (87–143)	0.04*
Temporal (μm)	56 (32–84)	62 (41–88)	0.30
Nasal (μm)	81 (54–101)	87 (44–113)	0.31
Mean (μm)	87 (61–105)	93 (67–112)	0.06
CRT/RNFLmean ratio	2.7 (2.0–3.8)	2.4 (1.9–3.7)	0.04*

Notes: Data were only included for patients with unilateral ON. We excluded all patients with 1) no ON in either eye, 2) bilateral ON, and 3) uncertainty of lateralization of ON. Continuous data presented as median (with range), and categorical data presented as percentage.

* Statistically significant (P<0.05).

Abbreviations: CRT, central retinal thickness; ETDRS, Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study; MS, multiple sclerosis; ON, optic neuritis; RNFL, retinal nerve fiber layer.

Figure 1 OCT with color photo and thickness maps.

Notes: (A) An eye which had never had ON and with normal thickness of the RNFL around the optic disc. Visual acuity was 89 ETDRS letters. (B) An eye with a history of ON. Visual acuity was 83 ETDRS letters, and there was substantial temporal RNFL loss (red) and a tendency toward inferior RNFL loss (yellow). Numbers indicate RNFL as given in μm.
Abbreviations: ETDRS, Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study; OCT, optical coherence tomography; ON, optic neuritis; RNFL, retinal nerve fiber layer.

Table 3 Risk of ON per 10 μm decrement in RNFL thickness

RNFL	Decrement	OR (95% CI)
		Unadjusted	Age- and sex-adjusted
Inferior	−10 μm	1.63 (1.09–2.46)*	1.56 (1.01–2.41)*
Temporal	−10 μm	1.79 (1.39–2.80)*	1.74 (1.10–2.77)*
Mean	−10 μm	1.79 (1.06–3.04)*	1.70 (0.98–2.95)

Notes: OR (95% CI) of having a history of ON according to RNFL thickness in unadjusted model and model adjusted for age and sex. RNFL_mean calculated as mean of RNFL thickness in superior, inferior, temporal, and nasal scan.

* Statistically significant (P<0.05).

Abbreviations: ON, optic neuritis; RNFL, retinal nerve fiber layer; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.