Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39609354›Full record

ArticleNeurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology2025

Association of peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer atrophy with cognitive impairment in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.

Mahdi Barzegar, Fereshteh Ashtari, Rahele Kafieh, Zahra Karimi, Alireza Dehghani, Arshia Ghalamkari, Alireza Afshari-Safavi, Friedemann Paul

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Article in Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

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2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Mahdi BarzegarDepartment of Neurology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Fereshteh AshtariDepartment of Neurology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. fashtari231@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4881-958X
Rahele KafiehDepartment of Engineering, Durham University, Durham, UK.
Zahra KarimiDepartment of Neurology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Alireza DehghaniDepartment of Ophthalmology, Isfahan Eye Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Arshia GhalamkariDepartment of Neurology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Alireza Afshari-SafaviDepartment of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Health, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran.
Friedemann PaulDepartment of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWe aimed to explore the association between peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (pRNFL), macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (mGCIPL), and cognitive impairment (CI) in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD).

methodIn this cross-sectional study, 38 (28 aquaporin-4 (AQP4) IgG-seropositive) NMOSD patients and 20 healthy controls (HC) underwent cognitive assessment using Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Function in Multiple Sclerosis (MACFIMS) battery. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) was performed for both eyes of all NMOSD patients. First, we examined the association of pRNFL and mGCIPL with cognitive function in all patients, regardless of the history of previous optic neuritis (ON). We then included only eyes without a prior history of ON, incorporating non-ON eyes in patients with unilateral ON and the average of OCT measures for both non-ON eyes in patients without a history of ON.

resultsSixteen (42.1%) NMOSD patients exhibited global CI. There was a significant decrease in pRNFL (Δ: 24.33 μm, p = 0.002) and mGCIPL (Δ: 9.20 μm, p = 0.009) in NMOSD patients with CI compared to those without. The atrophy of pRNFL showed an inverse association with CI before (OR = 1.059, 95% CI: 1.015, 1.105) and after adjustment for age, sex, and disease duration (OR = 1.072, 95%CI: 1.009, 1.139). An inverse significant association was observed between mGCIPL atrophy and CI before adjustment (OR = 1.102, 95% CI: 1.017, 1.194), but not after adjustment (OR = 1.106, 95%CI: 0.999, 1.224). After narrowing our analysis to non-ON eyes, the same results for pRNFL and CI were observed (unadjusted: OR = 1.054, 95% CI: 1.004, 1.106; adjusted: OR = 1.081, 95%CI: 1.000, 1.168). There was no significant association found between mGCIPL thickness and CI in both unadjusted and adjusted models. In sensitivity analyses, we observed no significant association between pRNFL and mGCIPL with CI in AQP-IgG-seropositive NMOSD patients.

conclusionThis study, for the first time, provide a preliminary evidence for a possible relation between pRNFL atrophy and occurrence of cognitive impairment in NMOSD patients. Further studies are required to explore the possible association of OCT parameters with cognition function in NMOSD patients.

Indexed as

Cognitive DysfunctionNerve FibersNeuromyelitis OpticaRetinaRetinal Ganglion CellsAdultAtrophyCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedTomography, Optical CoherenceCognitionCognitive impairmentGanglion cell-inner plexiform layerNeuromyelitis optica spectrum disorderOptical coherence tomographyRetinal nerve fiber layer thickness

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.