title: Comparison of optical coherence tomography and scanning laser polarimetry measurements in patients with multiple sclerosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare optical coherence tomography (OCT) and scanning laser polarimetry (GDx) measurements of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with and without optic neuritis (ON).
  
  
  METHODS
  OCT and GDx were performed on 68 MS patients. Qualifying eyes were divided into two groups: 51 eyes with an ON history > or =6 months before (ON eyes) and 65 eyes with no history of ON (non-ON eyes). Several GDx and OCT parameters and criteria were used to define an eye as abnormal, for example, GDx nerve fiber indicator (NFI) >20 or 30, OCT average RNFL thickness, and GDx temporal-superior-nasal-inferior-temporal average (TSNIT) below 5 or 1% of the normative database of the instruments. Agreement between OCT and GDx parameters was reported as percent of observed agreement, along with the AC1 statistic. Linear regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between OCT average RNFL thickness and GDx NFI and TSNIT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All OCT and GDx measurements showed significantly more RNFL damage in ON than in non-ON eyes. Agreement between OCT and GDx parameters ranged from 69 to 90% (AC1 0.37 to 0.81) in ON eyes and 52 to 91% (AC1 = 0.21 to 0.90) in non-ON eyes. Best agreement was observed between OCT average RNFL thickness (p < 0.01) and NFI (>30) in ON eyes (90%, AC1 = 0.81) and between OCT average RNFL thickness (p < 0.01) and GDx TSNIT average (p < 0.01) in non-ON eyes (91%, AC1 = 0.90). In ON eyes, the OCT average RNFL thickness showed good linear correlation with NFI (R = 0.69, p < 0.0001) and TSNIT (R = 0.55, p < 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  OCT and GDx show good agreement and can be useful in detecting RNFL loss in MS/ON eyes.
authors.affiliation: University of Houston, College of Optometry, Houston, Texas 77204-2020, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quelly
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laron
authors.forename: Jade S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Schiffman
authors.forename: Rosa A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology; D009902:Optic Neuritis / Q000150:complications*; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology; D057109:Scanning Laser Polarimetry / Q000592:standards*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000592:standards*