Retinal pathology in multiple sclerosis: insight into the mechanisms of neuronal pathology

Abstract

Sir, We wish to acknowledge the insightful and constructive comments provided by Gundogan and colleagues regarding potential retinal disturbances that may occur in the setting of multiple sclerosis, in response to the scientific commentary (Calabresi et al. , 2010) pertaining to the study, recently published in Brain , of ocular pathology in multiple sclerosis (Green et al. , 2010). Retinal nerve fibre layer thinning has been shown to occur in multiple sclerosis, both in eyes with and without a history of optic neuritis. This has been demonstrated pathologically (Toussaint et al. , 1983) as well as in vivo with the use of optical coherence tomography (Parisi et al. , 1999; Trip et al. , 2005; Fisher et al. , 2006). Retinal nerve fibre layer thinning in the absence of a history of clinical optic neuritis is thought to be the result of subclinical optic neuropathy. Optic neuropathy is thought to result in retrograde degeneration of …