Peripapillary retinal layer thickness is associated with retinal oxygen saturation in newly diagnosed patients with multiple sclerosis.

Aims/Purpose: Structural and physiological abnormalities have been reported in the retina of people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). We aimed to investigate whether change in the peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness is associated with difference in retinal oxygen (O2) saturation in newly diagnosed pwMS. Methods: Retinal oxygen saturation was measured using imaging by spectrophotometric non‐invasive retinal oximeter. RNFL thickness was acquired by RS‐3000 NIDEK OCT. Twenty‐five newly diagnosed pwMS were included. The measurements were performed primarily on the right eye; 25 healthy individuals (HCs) were age‐ and gender‐ matched with the pwMS. Arterio‐venular difference (A‐V diff) was calculated from the mean arteriolar and venular O2 saturation values based on measurements obtained from all vessels. Data were analysed by Spearman correlation. Results: There was a significant positive correlation between RNFL and A‐V diff in pwMS (p = 0.0014; rho = 0.4949), and no significant difference in the O2 saturation in retinal venules and arterioles in pwMS (mean: 60.0% and 93.7%; p = 0.5980) compared to HCs (mean: 59.3% and 91.5%; p = 0.8934), respectively. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that early in MS, changes in RNFL and A‐V diff are detectable, before patients develop any apparent/severe disease. We recommend inclusion of the peripapillary RNFL and A‐V diff in MS monitoring and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]