| Title |
In vivo assessment of retinal vessel pathology in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Neurology, February 2018
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s00415-018-8787-x |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
A. Abdelhak, A. Hübers, K. Böhm, A. C. Ludolph, J. Kassubek, E. H. Pinkhardt |
| Abstract |
Changes in skin and muscle small blood vessels (SBVs) and microvascular structures of the brain have been reported in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A direct assessment of brain SBVs in vivo is currently not feasible. Retinal vessels are considered a "mirror" of brain SBVs. In this study, we used optic coherence tomography (OCT)-based measurements to detect changes in retinal blood vessels of ALS patients compared to those of healthy controls. We analysed Spectralis-OCT images of 34 ALS patients and 20 HCs. The inner wall thickness (IWT), outer wall thickness (OWT), and lumen diameter (LD) of retinal vessels were assessed using intensity-based measurements. In addition, the different retinal layers were analysed using automated segmentation software. The correlations between the various retinal layers and clinical parameters [e.g., disease duration and revised ALS functional rating scale (ALS-FRS-R)] were examined. The OWT of retinal vessels was higher in ALS patients than in HCs (p = 0.04). There were no differences in the IWT, LD. ALS patients showed a thinning of the outer nuclear layer (ONL) compared to HCs (median 1.63 vs. 1.77, p = 0.002). The whole retinal thickness negatively correlated with the ALS-FRS scale (r = 0.3, p = 0.03). Our study reports retinal vessel pathology in ALS patients. These changes may be related to those observed in SBVs in skin and muscle biopsies. Furthermore, we report a thinning of the ONL in ALS, revealing a possible affection of rods and cones function in ALS. |
X Demographics
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Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 1 | 50% |
| Unknown | 1 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 1 | 50% |
| Scientists | 1 | 50% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 25 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 25 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 4 | 16% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 3 | 12% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 3 | 12% |
| Professor | 3 | 12% |
| Professor > Associate Professor | 2 | 8% |
| Other | 2 | 8% |
| Unknown | 8 | 32% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 6 | 24% |
| Neuroscience | 5 | 20% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 3 | 12% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 1 | 4% |
| Arts and Humanities | 1 | 4% |
| Other | 0 | 0% |
| Unknown | 9 | 36% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 08 September 2018.
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#17,932,482
of 23,025,074 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Neurology
#3,580
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#240,510
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Outputs of similar age from Journal of Neurology
#74
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