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In vivo confocal microscopy of corneal nerve fiber damage in early course of multiple sclerosis

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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the corneal nerve fiber morphology in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) by in vivo corneal confocal microscopy (CCM).

Methods

Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT), central macular thickness (CMT), corneal nerve fiber length (CNFL), corneal nerve fiber density (CNFD), corneal nerve branch density (CNBD) and corneal nerve fiber tortuosity (CNFT) were measured. Correlation of corneal nerve findings with duration and clinical severity of MS was calculated.

Results

CNFL (9.50 ± 0.60 vs. 11.20 ± 0.57 mm/mm2, P = 0.046) and CNBD (57.46 ± 5.04 vs. 77.65 ± 3.41 no/mm2, P = 0.001) were significantly lower with no significant difference in CNFD (21.24 ± 1.20 vs. 23.62 ± 0.95 no/mm2, P = 0.125), CNFT (2.00 ± 0.15 vs. 1.73 ± 0.12, P = 0.180), CMT (269.57 ± 12.53 vs. 271.10 ± 18.84 μm, P = 0.716) or RNFLT (102.82 ± 6.98 vs. 105.33 ± 12.70 μm, P = 0.351) between patients with RRMS compared to controls. There was no significant correlation between CCM parameters with EDSS and duration of disease in MS patients.

Conclusion

The current study demonstrated that a decrease in CNFL, CNFD and CNBD in CCM analysis in the early course of MS.

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Data availability

Data available on request.

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Acknowledgements

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Funding

No funding was received for conducting this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ophthalmology Clinic, Gebze Fatih State Hospital, 41400, Kocaeli, Turkey

    Muge Toprak

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydınlar University, 34398, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ozgul Altintas

  3. Neurology Clinic, Pasaalani Private Sevgi Hospital, 10100, Balıkesir, Turkey

    Hande Bickin

  4. Department of Neurology, Kocaeli University, 41100, Kocaeli, Turkey

    Husnu Efendi

  5. Department of Ophthalmology, Kocaeli University, 41100, Kocaeli, Turkey

    Busra Yilmaz Tugan & Nursen Yuksel

Authors
  1. Muge Toprak
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  2. Ozgul Altintas
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  3. Hande Bickin
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  4. Husnu Efendi
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  5. Busra Yilmaz Tugan
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  6. Nursen Yuksel
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design; OA, MT, HB and NY: material preparation and data collection were performed; MT, HE, and BYT: data analysis, figures and tables were prepared. MT and OA wrote the main manuscript text.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Muge Toprak.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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Patients signed informed consent regarding publishing their data and photographs.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Local ethic committee registration number of this study is GOKAEK-2022/03.03.

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Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Toprak, M., Altintas, O., Bickin, H. et al. In vivo confocal microscopy of corneal nerve fiber damage in early course of multiple sclerosis. Int Ophthalmol 43, 503–509 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-022-02448-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-022-02448-6

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