Visual impairment is a key manifestation of multiple sclerosis. Acute optic neuritis is a common, often presenting manifestation, but visual deficits and structural loss of retinal axonal and neuronal integrity can occur even without a history of optic neuritis. Interest in vision in multiple sclerosis is growing, partially in response to the development of sensitive visual function tests, structural markers such as optical coherence tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, and quality of life measures that give clinical meaning to the structure-function correlations that are unique to the afferent visual pathway. Abnormal eye movements also are common in multiple sclerosis, but quantitative assessment methods that can be applied in practice and clinical trials are not readily available. We summarize here a comprehensive literature search and the discussion at a recent international meeting of investigators involved in the development and study of visual outcomes in multiple sclerosis, which had, as its overriding goals, to review the state of the field and identify areas for future research. We review data and principles to help us understand the importance of vision as a model for outcomes assessment in clinical practice and therapeutic trials in multiple sclerosis.
“The King-Devick Test, a brief rapid number-naming test new to the multiple sclerosis field, is a potential quantitative bedside performance measure of efferent visual dysfunction (Moster et al., 2014). This test takes 2 min to complete and is sensitive to dysfunction of saccadic and other eye movements; time scores are higher (worse) among patients with multiple sclerosis compared to disease-free controls. Further studies of this and other efferent visual function tests in multiple sclerosis are needed to bring assessment of this aspect of vision to the level of afferent system investigation.”
Summary Points:
- Review of literature exploring clinical measures of vision for patients with MS.
- Abnormalities of ocular motility are common in MS.
- The K-D Test is sensitive to saccadic dysfunction and other eye movements.
- K-D scores are worse among patients with MS compared to disease-free controls.