How 5-minute eye scan can predict risk of brain damage in MS patients

A QUICK and cheap eye scan can predict brain damage caused by multiple sclerosis, new research has concluded.

Using the eye as a “window to the brain”, the five-minute scan could accurately assess the amount of brain damage in people with MS and offer clues about the speed the disease is progressing.

Researchers used optical coherence tomography (OCT) to scan nerves deep in the back of the eye. They applied special software to assess previously immeasurable layers of the light-sensitive retinal tissue.

The team said the scan does not use potentially harmful radiation – and is a tenth of the cost of an MRI.

The research could offer new hope to the 11,000 people in Scotland with the condition.

Scotland has the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the world which experts have linked to a lack of vitamin D – due to a lack of sunlight, and possibly a flaw in the celtic gene.

MS is a neurological condition which affects twice as many women as men and is most commonly diagnosed in people aged between 20 and 40.

Researchers from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Maryland, US, measured the thickness of the inner nuclear layer of the retina in 164 patients with MS and 60 healthy patients and followed changes in their eye tissues over four years.

They also used brain MRI to measure inflammation spots and performed clinical tests to determine the level of disability the MS caused.

Results showed the more inflammation and swelling found in the retinas of the MS patients, the more inflammation showed up in their brain MRIs.

Study leader Dr Peter Calabresi said: “The eye is the window into the brain and by measuring how healthy the eye is, we can determine how healthy the rest of the brain is.

“Eye scans are not that expensive, are really safe and are widely used in ophthalmology. Now that we have evidence of their predictive value in MS, we think they are ready for prime time.

“We should be using this new quantitative tool to learn more about disease progression, including nerve damage and brain atrophy.

“It is really important to know what the immune system is attacking. The treatments we have right now are only moderately effective, so maybe we’re not blocking the right kinds of cells.”

The researchers say the if they saw the kind of thickness on an eye scan indicating cells wasting away, they would consider a patient’s prognosis less encouraging than someone with a healthy retina - guiding physicians to treat more aggressively.

They also told how their study, published in the renowned Lancet medical journal showed how they found tiny pockets of fluid in ten of the older patients they looked at, who all had MS. As a result they say opticians should consider getting people tested for MS if they discover a cyst like this on one or both eyes.

A linked study – published in Archives of Neurology – showed cells wasting away in the brain, which is symptomless and irreversible, correlates with grey matter wasting away – signifying nerve damage from MS.

MS can be severely debilitating and many patients are forced to take pain killers to alleviate symptoms.