New research by neurologists at the University at Buffalo has shown that a technique called optical coherence tomography, or OCT, a simple and inexpensive measure employed currently to assess glaucoma, also could be used as a surrogate marker of disease status in MS and to assess the effectiveness of new and current MS treatments. Results of the study appear online in the "in press" section of the Journal of the Neurological Sciences.

"MRI has advanced our ability to measure tissue injury in MS, but the technology cannot specifically measure changes in axonal integrity," said Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, M.D., the study's corresponding author and associate professor of neurology in the Jacobs Neurological Institute, which is the Department of Neurology in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

"OCT may be helpful in monitoring disease progression, but also could represent a potential sensitive tool or outcome measure for future trials using neuroprotective therapeutic interventions. It is considered a reliable and objective technique for capturing loss of retinal ganglion cell axons in early glaucoma and in other forms of optic neuropathy."  Optic neuropathy (ON) is the initial presenting sign in 20 to 25 percent of MS patients.