title: Retinal thickness in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may represent a transition to early Alzheimer's disease (AD). The retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) is composed of axons originating in retinal ganglion cells that eventually form the optic nerves. Previous studies have shown that degenerative changes occur in optic nerve fibers and manifested as thinning of RNFL in patients with AD. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between MCI, AD and loss of RNFL.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, patients fulfilling diagnostic criteria for MCI (n=24), AD (n=30) and cognitively normal age-matched controls (n=24) have undergone neuro-ophthalmologic and optical coherence tomography (OCT) examinations to measure RNFL thickness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant decrease in RNFL thickness in both study groups (AD and MCI) compared to the control group, particularly in the inferior quadrants of the optic nerve head, while the superior quadrants were significantly thinner only in AD. Although AD patients may have more severe changes than MCI cases, the differences were statistically nonsignificant. Furthermore among AD patients, there was no relation to the severity of the dementia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data confirm the retinal involvement in AD, as reflected by loss of axons in the optic nerves.
authors: Neuro-ophthalmology Unit, Department of Ophthalmology, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Weizman Str. 6, Tel Aviv, Israel. kesler.anat@gmail.com
authors: Anat
authors: A
authors: Kesler
authors: Veronika
authors: V
authors: Vakhapova
authors: Amos D
authors: AD
authors: Korczyn
authors: Elvira
authors: E
authors: Naftaliev
authors: Meira
authors: M
authors: Neudorfer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000473:pathology; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000473:pathology; D055351:Retinal Neurons / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence