TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of optical coherence tomography in multiple sclerosis
T2 - Expert panel consensus
AU - Sergott, Robert C.
AU - Frohman, Elliot
AU - Glanzman, Robert
AU - AL-Sabbagh, Ahmad
N1 - Funding Information:
The OCT Expert Roundtable Panel was commissioned and the resulting manuscript was supported by EMD Serono, Inc., and Pfizer Inc.
PY - 2007/12/15
Y1 - 2007/12/15
N2 - Optic neuritis (ON), a common manifestation of multiple sclerosis (MS), often occurs as the initial manifestation of central nervous system demyelination or develops during the course of this disease. Since the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) is composed only of unmyelinated axons, measuring RNFL thickness represents a viable method of monitoring axonal loss in these patients. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive, noncontact, accurate, and reproducible technique that quantitates the thickness of the peripapillary RNFL, fovea, and macula. Because of its potential role in defining axonal loss in ON and in assessing longitudinal changes in the RNFL before and after MS treatment, a multidisciplinary expert panel was charged with the following tasks: assess the current capabilities of OCT; review the current data about OCT, ON, and MS; and determine whether OCT could be a primary or secondary outcome measure in future MS clinical trials. The panel concluded that: [1] OCT is valid and reproducible; [2] OCT has yielded some important limited data concerning cross-sectional studies with ON and MS; [3] more studies are required to correlate OCT results with other measures of MS disease activity; [4] after correlation with these other measures and upon agreement of standardized technical and statistical methods, OCT may evolve into a important primary or secondary outcome metric for MS clinical trials and patient care.
AB - Optic neuritis (ON), a common manifestation of multiple sclerosis (MS), often occurs as the initial manifestation of central nervous system demyelination or develops during the course of this disease. Since the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) is composed only of unmyelinated axons, measuring RNFL thickness represents a viable method of monitoring axonal loss in these patients. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive, noncontact, accurate, and reproducible technique that quantitates the thickness of the peripapillary RNFL, fovea, and macula. Because of its potential role in defining axonal loss in ON and in assessing longitudinal changes in the RNFL before and after MS treatment, a multidisciplinary expert panel was charged with the following tasks: assess the current capabilities of OCT; review the current data about OCT, ON, and MS; and determine whether OCT could be a primary or secondary outcome measure in future MS clinical trials. The panel concluded that: [1] OCT is valid and reproducible; [2] OCT has yielded some important limited data concerning cross-sectional studies with ON and MS; [3] more studies are required to correlate OCT results with other measures of MS disease activity; [4] after correlation with these other measures and upon agreement of standardized technical and statistical methods, OCT may evolve into a important primary or secondary outcome metric for MS clinical trials and patient care.
KW - Disease modifying drugs
KW - Magnetic resonance imaging
KW - Multiple sclerosis
KW - Optic neuritis
KW - Optical coherence tomography
KW - Retinal nerve fiber layer
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jns.2007.05.024
DO - 10.1016/j.jns.2007.05.024
M3 - Review article
C2 - 17673257
AN - SCOPUS:35648948952
SN - 0022-510X
VL - 263
SP - 3
EP - 14
JO - Journal of the Neurological Sciences
JF - Journal of the Neurological Sciences
IS - 1-2
ER -