Intraocular pressure and choroidal thickness postural changes in multiple system atrophy and Parkinson\u2019s disease

Maddalena De Bernardo,Giulio Salerno,Luigi Capasso,Maria Claudia Russillo,Roberto Erro,Marianna Amboni,Marina Picillo,Maria Teresa Pellecchia,Paolo Barone,Nicola Rosa,Marco Gioia

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-88250-3

Maddalena De Bernardo, Giulio Salerno + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88250-3

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Journal: Scientific Reports	Publication Date: Apr 26, 2021
Citations: 26	License type: open-access

Affiliation: University of Salerno

Abstract

To evaluate intraocular pressure (IOP) and choroidal thickness (ChT) postural changes in multiple system atrophy (MSA), Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients and healthy controls (HC). 20 MSA patients, 21 PD patients and 14 HC, were examined. All subjects underwent a complete examination, including corneal thickness, ChT, IOP and axial length (AL) measurements. IOP measurement was performed in supine, sitting, and standing positions, whereas ChT in sitting and standing positions. Supine to standing IOP variations were significantly higher in MSA vs PD(p = 0.01) and in MSA vs HC (p < 0.0001), whereas no significant differences were observed between PD and HC (p = 0.397). Mean sub-foveal ChT in MSA was 240 ± 92 μm in sitting position, and 215 ± 94 μm in standing position with a significant reduction (p = 0.008). Mean sub-foveal ChT in PD was 258 ± 79 μm in sitting position, and 259 ± 76 μm in standing position (p = 0.887). In HC it was 244 ± 36 μm in sitting position, and 256 ± 37 μm in standing position with a significant increase (p = 0.007). The significant IOP and ChT postural changes can be considered additional hallmarks of autonomic dysfunction in MSA and further studies are needed to consider them as biomarkers in the differential diagnosis with PD.

Highlights

To evaluate intraocular pressure (IOP) and choroidal thickness (ChT) postural changes in multiple system atrophy (MSA), Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients and healthy controls (HC). MSA patients, PD patients and 14 HC, were examined
Among the 20 MSA patients, 18 underwent IOP evaluation; 9 of them had ChT assessment in both sitting and standing positions ChT was not assessed in 2 patients due to intraocular media opacities and one patient due to a retinal vein occlusion; in the other 9 patients it was not possible to perform the choroidal examination in standing position due to patients difficulties to stand for a long time)
The results obtained from this study indicate that MSA patients have significant IOP and ChT postural changes, compared with PD and HC

Summary

Introduction

To evaluate intraocular pressure (IOP) and choroidal thickness (ChT) postural changes in multiple system atrophy (MSA), Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients and healthy controls (HC). MSA patients, PD patients and 14 HC, were examined. To evaluate intraocular pressure (IOP) and choroidal thickness (ChT) postural changes in multiple system atrophy (MSA), Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients and healthy controls (HC). Mean sub-foveal ChT in MSA was 240 ± 92 μm in sitting position, and 215 ± 94 μm in standing position with a significant reduction (p = 0.008). The significant IOP and ChT postural changes can be considered additional hallmarks of autonomic dysfunction in MSA and further studies are needed to consider them as biomarkers in the differential diagnosis with PD. The aims of our study were: 1) to confirm the IOP postural changes in MSA patients compared with patients affected by Parkinson’s disease (PD) and healthy controls (HC). 2) to assess postural variations in ChT, to better understand the pathophysiology of ocular autonomic dysfunction in MSA

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