Optic Nerve T2 Signal Intensity and Caliber Reflect Clinical Severity in Genetic Optic Atrophy.

BACKGROUND

Genetic optic atrophies comprise phenotypically heterogenous disorders of mitochondrial function. We aimed to correlate quantitative neuroimaging findings of the optic nerves in these disorders with clinical measures.

METHODS

From a retrospective database of 111 patients with bilateral optic atrophy referred for genetic testing, 15 patients diagnosed with nonglaucomatous optic atrophy of genetic origin (7 patients with pathogenic variants in OPA1 , 3 patients with Wolfram syndrome, and 5 patients with Leber hereditary optic neuropathy) who had accessible magnetic resonance (MR) images of the orbits and/or brain were analyzed. The primary outcome measures of T2 short Tau inversion recovery (STIR) signal and optic nerve caliber were quantified according to a standardized protocol, normalized to internal standards, and compared between cases and controls. Inter-rater reliability was assessed and clinical features were analyzed according to MRI features.

RESULTS

Compared with control patients, the 15 genetic optic atrophy patients demonstrated significantly increased T2 STIR signal (fold-change 1.6, P = 0.0016) and decreased optic nerve caliber (fold-change 0.72, P = 0.00012) after internal normalization. These metrics were reliable (inter-reader reliability correlation coefficients of 0.98 [ P = 0.00036] and 0.74 [ P = 0.0025] for normalized STIR and nerve caliber, respectively) and significantly correlated with visual acuity, cup-to-disc ratio, and visual field testing.

CONCLUSIONS

Normalized optic nerve STIR signal and optic nerve caliber significantly correlate with visual acuity, cup-to-disc ratio, and perimetric performance in patients with genetic optic atrophy. A formalized protocol to characterize these differences on MRI may help to guide accurate and expedient diagnostic evaluation.