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Dynamics of saccade parameters in multiple sclerosis patients with fatigue

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Abstract

Fatigue is one of the most frequent and disabling symptoms in multiple sclerosis (MS). Its pathophysiology remains poorly understood and objective measures to quantify fatigue are unavailable to date. To investigate whether analysis of ocular motor movements can provide diagnostic information in MS patients with fatigue, 37 MS patients (21 female, age 44 ± 9 years) and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were prospectively recruited. Fatigue was assessed with the fatigue severity scale (FSS). Twenty-five MS patients were fatigued (defined as FSS ≥4) and 12 MS patients were not. Subjects performed a saccadic fatigue task that required execution of uniform saccades over a period of 10 min. Saccadic amplitude, latency and peak velocities during the task were analysed and selected parameters were tested in a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Fatigued patients showed a significantly larger decrease of saccadic peak velocity and amplitude when compared to patients without fatigue and healthy controls. Furthermore, fatigued patients showed significantly longer latencies compared to non-fatigued patients and healthy controls. Peak velocity change over time and latencies correlated with FSS scores. The best parameter to discriminate between fatigued and non-fatigued patients was peak velocity change over time (ROC; area under the curve = 0.857). Assessment of peak velocity, amplitude and latency in a saccade fatigue task is a promising approach for quantifying fatigue in MS patients.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant from German Research Foundation (DFG Exc. 257).

Conflicts of interest

There is no conflict of interest from any author regarding this study.

Ethical standard

This study has been approved by the appropriate ethics committee and has been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Carsten Finke, Sarah Stricker, Matthias Endres, Florian Ostendorf & Christoph J. Ploner

  2. NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117, Berlin, Germany

    Luisa Maria Pech, Carina Sömmer, Jeremias Schlichting, Matthias Endres, Alexander U. Brandt & Friedemann Paul

  3. Center for Stroke Research, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Matthias Endres

  4. Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Florian Ostendorf

  5. Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Sarah Stricker & Friedemann Paul

  6. Clinical and Experimental Multiple Sclerosis Research Center, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Friedemann Paul

  7. Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany

    Friedemann Paul

Authors
  1. Carsten Finke
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  2. Luisa Maria Pech
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  3. Carina Sömmer
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  4. Jeremias Schlichting
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  5. Sarah Stricker
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  6. Matthias Endres
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  7. Florian Ostendorf
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  8. Christoph J. Ploner
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  9. Alexander U. Brandt
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  10. Friedemann Paul
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander U. Brandt.

Additional information

C. Finke and L. M. Pech are equally contributing first authors.

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Finke, C., Pech, L.M., Sömmer, C. et al. Dynamics of saccade parameters in multiple sclerosis patients with fatigue. J Neurol 259, 2656–2663 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-012-6565-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-012-6565-8

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