This study will interest in the pathophysiology of silent retinal axonal loss in multiple sclerosis. Recent studies have suggested that silent retinal axonal loss (no past history of optic neuritis \[ON\]) may be due to inflammatory lesions within the optic radiations and a transsynaptic degenerative process. The objective is to measure the exact role of silent optic nerve lesion in the occurrence of silent retinal axonal loss by performing OCT, brain and optic nerve MRI in a cohort of patients without recent disease activity.

Read Full Scientific Objectives & Methods

This study will interest in the neurodegenerative process reported in multiple sclerosis within the visual ways. Symptomatic and asymptomatic retinal axonal loss in multiple sclerosis (MS) have largely been described. Many recent optical coherence tomography (OCT) studies have suggested that subclinical retinal axonal loss (no past history of optic neuritis \[ON\]) observed in MS mainly due to inflammatory and demyelinating lesions within the optic radiations and a retrograde transsynaptic degenerative process. None of these studies clearly tried to investigate the role of asymptomatic optic nerve lesion(s) in subclinical retinal axonal loss occurence. The main objective of the study is to measure the exact role of silent optic nerve lesion in the occurrence of silent retinal axonal loss by performing OCT, brain and optic nerve MRI. The study will focus on a cohort of patients without recent disease activity in order to exclude or minimize the risk of recent and old lesion occurence on the visual ways, which could be a bias in our analysis.

Primary Outcome Measures

Study of asymptomatic retinal atrophy in multiple sclerosis and asymptomatic optic nerve demyelinating lesion — Time Frame: Day 1 (cross-sectional study)
The temporal peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer thickness (pRNFL; quantitative data) measured on optical coherence tomography will evaluate asymptomatic retinal atrophy Presence of subclinical optic nerve lesion will be assessed on optic nerve MRI (3D-double inversion recovery sequence; Y/N; qualitative data) and according to clinical information (past history of optic neuritis \[ON\] or not). It will enable investigators to define 3 eyes' groups: eyes' group with symptomatic optic nerve lesion (ON eyes), eyes' group with asymptomatic optic nerve lesion (NON eyes with asymptomatic lesion) and eyes' group without symptomatic or asymptomatic lesion (NON eyes without lesion). Investigators will proceed to comparison of temporal pRNFL between NON eyes with asymptomatic lesion and NON eyes without lesion

View Secondary Outcome Measures (4)

Evaluation of the link between asymptomatic retinal atrophy in multiple sclerosis and intensity of demyelinating process all along the optic ways (from the retina to the visual cortex) — Time Frame: Day 1 (cross-sectional study)
Within NON eyes, investigators will evaluate the imaging parameters on the optic ways which is/are significantly and independently associated to temporal pRNFL (multivariate analysis) MRI parameters parameters included will be: length of asymptomatic optic nerve lesion; presence of lesion on chiasma, presence of lesion on optic tracts, T2 lesion burden on optic radiations, fractional anisotropy in optic radiations, volume of primary visual cortex
Evaluation of the link between symptomatic retinal atrophy in multiple sclerosis and intensity of demyelinating process all along the optic ways (from the retina to the visual cortex) — Time Frame: Day 1 (cross-sectional study)
Within ON eyes, investigators will evaluate the imaging parameters on the optic ways which is/are significantly and independently associated to temporal pRNFL (multivariate analysis) MRI parameters parameters included will be: length of subclinical optic nerve lesion; presence of lesion on chiasma, presence of lesion on optic tracts, T2 lesion burden on optic radiations, fractional anisotropy in optic radiations, volume of primary visual cortex
Evaluation of the link between retinal atrophy and visual connectivity — Time Frame: Day 1 (cross-sectional study)
Within all eyes (ON eyes + NON eyes with asymptomatic optic nerve lesion + NON eyes without asymptomatic lesion), investigators will evaluate the link between the mean temporal pRNFL of both eyes (pRNFL; quantitative data) and the strength of visual connectivity (seed based approach on resting state sequence)
Evaluation of the link between visual disability and MRI parameters measuring intensity of demyelinating process all along the optic ways (from the retina to the visual cortex) — Time Frame: Day 1 (cross-sectional study)
Within all eyes (ON eyes + NON eyes with asymptomatic optic nerve lesion + NON eyes without asymptomatic lesion), investigators will evaluate the MRI parameters significantly and independently associated to visual disability. Visual disability will be measured by low contrast vision acuity (2.5%; unit LogMar) MRI parameters will be length of subclinical optic nerve lesion; presence of lesion on chiasma, presence of lesion on optic tracts, T2 lesion burden on optic radiations, fractional anisotropy in optic radiations, volume of primary visual cortex

This trial is recruiting at 1 study facilities worldwide. Click below to see if there is a clinic or hospital in your area:

Show All 1 Facilities & Contact Sites

Hôpital Roger Salengro, CHRU

Lille, France

Lead Sponsoring Institution

University Hospital, Lille

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Subject: Inquiry about clinical trial enrollment: NCT03656055 - Analysis of Neurodegenerative Process Within Visual Ways In Multiple Sclerosis

Dear Study Coordinator / Research Team, I hope this message finds you well. My name is [Your Name], and I am writing to express my strong interest in participating in the clinical trial titled "Analysis of Neurodegenerative Process Within Visual Ways In Multiple Sclerosis" (NCT ID: NCT03656055). I am [Age] years old and have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I have reviewed the eligibility criteria for this study on Med Code Info and believe I may be a suitable candidate. Could you please let me know if this study is actively enrolling patients at any site near my location, and what the next steps are to undergo screening? Thank you for your time and research efforts. Warm regards, [Your Name]

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