Purpose: To determine the relationships between visual function and ganglion cell and inner plexiform layer thickness and neuropsychological measures in multiple sclerosis (MS).
Methods: Ninety-five relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and 36 progressive MS patients underwent 100%-contrast visual acuity (VA), 2.5%- and 1.25%-contrast letter acuity (LA) testing, Cirrus-HD-optical coherence tomography, and neuropsychological assessments. Mixed-effects regression models were used to assess relationships.
Results: Across the cohort, 1.25%-contrast LA was associated with Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT; β = 2.17, p = 0.005) and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R) total recall (TR) and delayed recall (DR) scores (β = 0.31, p < 0.001; β = 0.15, p = 0.039, respectively). 2.5%-contrast LA was associated with BVMT-R TR scores (β = 0.27, p = 0.006). In the RRMS cohort, 1.25%-contrast LA was generally more significantly associated with cognitive measures: SDMT (β = 2.97, p = 0.001) and BVMT-R TR (β = 0.32, p < 0.001) and DR (β = 0.22, p = 0.012).
Conclusion: This study suggests that visual pathway measures, particularly visual function measures, reflect aspects of cognitive function in MS, further supporting their roles as complementary outcomes in MS neuroprotection trials.
Keywords: Visual pathway; multiple sclerosis; neuropsychological assessment; optical coherence tomography; visual function.