THE ESSENTIAL
- In France, approximately 110,000 people suffer from multiple sclerosis.
- This autoimmune disease is the leading cause of severe non-traumatic disability in young adults.
“Remission of relapses is an important short- and long-term prognostic factor in relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). In cases of acute optic neuritis associated with MS, thinning of the retinal layer is a reliable biomarker both functional recovery and the degree of neuroaxonal damage. However, prediction of remission from MS relapses is difficult.” This is what scientists from the University of Vienna in Austria wrote in a study published in the journal Neurology.
167 patients followed for three years
As part of this research, they tried to determine whether the thinning of the retina following acute optic neuritis (namely neurological damage caused by inflammation of the optic nerve) was associated with remission of attacks. For the purposes of the work, the researchers recruited 167 people with multiple sclerosis and followed them for three years.
“For this observational study, we included patients with an episode of acute optic neuritis, retinal layer scans measured by optical coherence tomography within 12 months before the onset of optic neuritis, within one week following onset of this neurological attack and 3 to 6 months following the optic neuritis”, the authors said.
Thinning of the retinal layer, a marker of relapse risk
According to the results, the thinner the retinal layer became following flare-ups, the more severe the next flare-up was. Clearly, looking closely at the blood vessels in the retina helps gauge the severity of future flare-ups. “Thinning of the retinal layer following optic neuritis may be used as a prognostic marker for relapse risk in people with multiple sclerosis”, can we read in the conclusions of the study.
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