Quantitative visual tests after poorly recovered optic neuritis due to multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Visual dysfunction in MS can be quantified using a variety of tests. Many vision tests have not been formally evaluated among MS patients with existing visual dysfunction.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate several versions of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity tests, measures of central and peripheral vision, retina structure, electrophysiologic function, and quality of life among MS patients with moderate/severe visual dysfunction.

METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 46 patients with stable, incompletely recovered optic neuritis. Testing included Snellen eye charts, several Sloan low contrast charts, Pelli Robson (PR) contrast sensitivity charts, optical coherence tomography, visual fields, Farnsworth Munsell 100-hue test, visual evoked potentials (VEP), and visual function quality of life (VFQ-25) testing.

RESULTS: 98% of eyes could read two lines of the PR chart, while only 43% read the 2.5% contrast chart. Low contrast tests correlated strongly with each other and with retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, visual fields, and color vision but not with VEPs. For patients with RNFL <75µm, VFQ-25 scores dropped by approximately 2 points for every 1µm decrease in RNFL.

CONCLUSION: Among MS patients with visual impairment due to optic neuritis, PR contrast sensitivity could be utilized as a single chart. Visual quality of life was associated with RNFL thinning below 75µm.