Vestibulo ocular reflex in multiple sclerosis patients without any optic neuritis

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate vestibulo ocular reflex (VOR) in MS patients without any history of optic neuritis.

Methods: 26 MS patients without any previous history of optic neuritis and 13 age- matched control subjects were included in this study. Their age ranged from 22 to 50 years old. We evaluated monocular visual evoked potential (VEP), monocular and binocular best corrected static and dynamic visual acuity, near and distance phoria and VOR gain.

Results: Mean spherical equivalent (SE) was - 0.40 ± 0.93 D and - 0.04 ± 0.14 D for study and control group, respectively (P = 0.060). There was a significant difference in dynamic visual acuity (DVA) between two groups (P = 0.029). VOR gain was not significantly different in both groups through vHIT measurements (P = 0.338). Duration of MS had a mean of 78.38 ± 75.94 months (ranged from 6 to 336 months). We found no significant correlation between disease duration and VOR (Rho 0.277, P = 0.171) or DVA (Rho 0.782, P = 0.057).

Conclusion: Our study showed that although vHIT results decreased in MS patients, there was no significant differences between two groups.

Keywords: Multiple sclerosis; Optic neuritis; Vestibulo ocular reflex; Video head impulse test.