Abstract Details

Title Cross Sectional Studies of Visual Impairment in Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Topic Anterior Horn

Presentation(s) P05 - (-)

Poster/Presentation
Number 081

Objective

Background BACKGROUND: Clinical and post-mortem observations of pathological changes outside the motor system in some people with ALS have led to a shift from the classical characterization of ALS as a disease exclusively of motor neurons to that of a multisystem disorder. Visual system deficits are recent additions to the phenotypic spectrum of ALS based on studies by our group.

Design/Methods DESIGN/METHODS: Two cohorts of patients attending multidisciplinary ALS clinics and their caregivers, serving as controls were studied. Visual acuity(VA) was assessed using high(100%) and low(2.5%, 1.25%) contrast charts (Sloan). In the first cohort(n-ALS=54, n-control=35), VA was limited to binocular measurements and ocular motility and alignment were concurrently studied. In the second cohort(n-ALS=17, n-control=10), monocular and binocular VA were assessed and confounding variables of refraction and luminance were controlled. Binocular summation was evaluated in the second cohort.

Results RESULTS: Low contrast binocular VA was reduced in in ALS patients compared with control subjects in both cohorts accounting for age(p<0.05 logistic regression). This was not associated with gender, ocular alignment, ocular motility deficits, functional disability or habitual use of corrective lenses. In the second cohort monocular VA was also reduced in ALS patients(p<0.05 logistic regression) and binocular summation was not different between ALS and control subjects.

Conclusions CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate impaired visual function in ALS patients compared with control subjects in two studies. Measures of visual function are therefore potential novel biomarkers for this devastating neurological disease. The structural basis of this observation is the subject of ongoing investigation. Vision based markers of neuro-degeneration are attractive for ALS because functional visual testing remains accessible while muscle weakness obscures other portions of the neurological examination.

Authors/Disclosures
Heather Moss, MD, PhD, FAAN (Spencer Center for Vision Research at Stanford) PRESENTER	Dr. Moss has received personal compensation in the range of $100,000-$499,999 for serving as a Consultant for Verana Health. Dr. Moss has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving as an Expert Witness for Legal Firms. The institution of Dr. Moss has received research support from NIH. The institution of Dr. Moss has received research support from Research to Prevent Blindness. Dr. Moss has received intellectual property interests from a discovery or technology relating to health care. Dr. Moss has received personal compensation in the range of $0-$499 for serving as a grant review panel with National Institutes of Health. Dr. Moss has a non-compensated relationship as a Board of Directors with North American Neuro-ophthalmology Society that is relevant to AAN interests or activities.
Qin Li Jiang, MD (Jesse Brown VA Medical Center)	No disclosure on file
Julie Rowin, MD, FAAN (Verde Valley Naturopathic Medicine)	No disclosure on file
Jaya Goyal	No disclosure on file

��ɫ��

��ɫ��