Optical coherence tomography detected retinal axonal damage after optic neuritis even when patients' visual fields were still normal, a small study found.
Gema Rebolleda, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the Ramón y Cajal Hospital in Madrid, Spain, compared the efficacy of subjective visual function tests and OCT as follow-up measures in 12 patients with optic neuritis.
At 6 months after optic neuritis, the researchers found a significant correlation between retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and final visual acuity; a one-line drop in visual acuity occurred for every 5.4 µm decrease in RNFL thickness (P = .005), according to the study authors. Of seven patients with normal visual fields 6 months after optic neuritis, 57% had abnormal RNFL values, the authors noted.
The study is published in the December issue of Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica.