Summary
This thesis evaluates four diagnostic approaches—pupillometry, serum GFAP, ethnicity, and MRI—for distinguishing optic neuritis caused by Multiple Sclerosis from that caused by Neuromyelitis Optica. For lighting and vision professionals, the findings highlight pupillometry's clinical utility in assessing optic nerve damage, particularly in patients with poor visual recovery, offering a non-invasive tool for monitoring photoreceptor pathway integrity.
Key Findings
- Pupillometry was found useful in chronic settings for patients with optic neuritis who show poor recovery, enabling discrimination between MS- and NMO-related optic neuritis.
- Serum GFAP levels were identified as a useful potential indicator of NMO in acute optic neuritis presentations.
- Ethnic background correlated with NMO risk, with NMO found to be more prevalent in the Caucasian population of northern Europe than previously believed.
- MRI findings differed between MS- and NMO-related optic neuritis with regard to lesion extent and lesion site within the visual pathways.
- The four methods combined can provide a likelihood estimate of NMO in patients presenting with isolated optic neuritis of unknown cause.
Categories
Eye Health & Vision: The thesis investigates optic neuritis, a condition affecting the optic nerve, using pupillometry and imaging to differentiate between MS- and NMO-related causes.
The Science of Light: Pupillometry is evaluated as a diagnostic tool for optic nerve disease, directly relating to pupillary light reflex assessment and photoreceptor pathway integrity.
Author(s)
M Storoni
Publication Year
2012
Related Publications
Eye Health & Vision
- Diminished pupillary light reflex at high irradiances in melanopsin-knockout mice
- Genetic reactivation of cone photoreceptors restores visual responses in retinitis pigmentosa
- Melanopsin and rod–cone photoreceptors play different roles in mediating pupillary light responses during exposure to continuous light in humans
- Characteristic patterns of dendritic remodeling in early-stage glaucoma: evidence from genetically identified retinal ganglion cell types
- Intrinsically photosensitive melanopsin retinal ganglion cell contributions to the pupillary light reflex and circadian rhythm
The Science of Light
- Phototransduction by retinal ganglion cells that set the circadian clock
- Color appearance models
- The mammalian circadian timing system: organization and coordination of central and peripheral clocks
- Diminished pupillary light reflex at high irradiances in melanopsin-knockout mice
- Melanopsin is required for non-image-forming photic responses in blind mice