Correlating structure with visual function in patients with multiple sclerosis: Where is this leading?

Abstract

Visual loss, particularly from optic neuritis (ON), is a major cause of disability in multiple sclerosis (MS). Determining the precise cause of the visual loss, what can be done to treat it and, indeed, what can be done to prevent it are major priorities in current clinical research. Over the last few decades, our understanding of the pathology in MS has shifted from a purely inflammation-based disease of axons in the white matter of the brain to a disorder which causes progressive degeneration of cells in the grey matter of the brain and in the ganglion cell layer of the retina. This has led to a reassessment of exactly how visual loss occurs in MS and a more detailed exploration of how structure and function might relate to each other.