Eye Scan May Help Diagnose, Treat MS

Optical coherence tomography, a new technology, gauges the thickness of retinal nerve fiber, which becomes the optic nerve and is affected early in the course of MS. This is also the only part of the brain where nerve cells, even in healthy people, are not coated in myelin. The OCT test would specifically pick up on nerve damage, as opposed to more general brain changes, the researchers said.

"This allows you to measure the thickness of the axon itself," O'Looney explained.

The cost of the eye exam is only a fraction (10 percent to 15 percent) of a conventional MRI and, O'Looney noted, "it's user-friendly, it's inexpensive and it's less time-consuming for the patient."

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For the study, the Hopkins researchers used the eye exam to scan the layers of nerve fibers of the retina in 40 people with either relapsing-remitting MS, secondary progressive MS, or primary progressive MS. Fifteen healthy volunteers served as control participants.

There appeared to be a strong association between retinal fiber thickness and how much the brain had atrophied.

But optical nerve damage could be used to indicate of other ailments, usually glaucoma, which would need to be ruled out. "If the ophthalmologist says there is no other obvious explanation in a young, healthy person who's tired and has some tingling sensations, I think it could be used as another way of helping to figure out if they have MS," Calabresi said.

Calabresi's team is now doing further studies involving the technology. If those studies pan out, OCT could be a way to deliver effective treatments to patients much earlier, he said.

"The longer MS goes undiagnosed the more damage is done," Calabresi stated. "Having a better test is extremely helpful."

The technology could end up paving the way for more effective drugs as well.

"As we move forward in developing new drugs to protect the axon from damage, we need a way to measure that. And OCT is certainly a strong potential technology that could be used," O'Looney said.

More information

For more on multiple sclerosis, visit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.