Abstract #3293

Axonal Damage in the Optic Radiation Detected by Advanced Diffusion MR Metrics is Associated with Retinal Thinning in Multiple Sclerosis

Chanon Ngamsombat^1,2, Qiyuan Tian¹, Qiuyun Fan¹, Andrew William Russo³, Thomas Witzel¹, Lawrence Leroy Wald¹, Eric Klawiter³, and Susie Huang¹

¹Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital / Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Boston, MA, United States, ²Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand, ³Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States

Axonal damage diffusely involves the retina, optic nerve, and optic pathway in MS but lacks a specific imaging biomarker. We investigated the presence of alterations in advanced diffusion MRI metrics derived from WMTI and NODDI in the optic radiation (OR) in MS. We found a significant association between thinning of the retinal nerve fiber layer measured by OCT and reduction in axonal water fraction and intracellular water fraction in the OR as measured by WMTI and NODDI. Our results support the idea that axonal damage is widespread throughout the visual pathway in MS and may be mediated through trans-synaptic degeneration.

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